


i'll love you till my breathing stops

by poiperoi



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Slow Burn, Underage Drinking, not ever really enemies though just kinda standoffish, originally it was gonna be a lonnng slow burn but it's turning out to be a moderately slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-11-23 08:23:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11398776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poiperoi/pseuds/poiperoi
Summary: Eliza and Jeremiah send Kara halfway across the world to a prestigious all-girls boarding school in Ireland. Not because we hate you, they say, but to protect you. Kara knows she’s foolish to think anything else but there’s always that voice at the back of her head telling her they’ve always wanted to get rid of her. She’s just given them an excuse, now.or,Kara gets expelled, gets sent to boarding school and shares a room with Lena Luthor.





	1. stranger

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i know theres like a million highschool/boarding school aus out there already but i wanted to give it a shot anyway. i've been meaning to write this for a while!  
> this chapter is entirely from kara's POV and lena makes a very very very brief appearance, but not to worry ! next chapter will be from her POV bc we'll have alternating POVs.  
> ooh, also, i'm british so lots of u's and s's + kara is in year 12 once shes in ireland so she's 16/17.  
> enjoy !!!

She’s completely enveloped in darkness, so much so that she doesn’t know where her body begins or where it ends unless she’s pressing her fingertips to her face, wiggling her toes. She can feel her lungs expanding with every breath, and wisps of hair brushing her forehead. The scratch of her dress’s fibres against her skin. Her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

She’s alive.

And suddenly, the world around her is alive as well; billions of white dots piercing the black that had shrouded her pod for who knows how long. It’s almost blinding. Tears prick her eyes and she thinks her hands are shaking a little—too much too quick, she’s been sleeping for so long she’s forgotten how to think, how to process, but before she even has time to ground herself the pod lurches forward.

It picks up speed, hurtling by bits of rock, dead moons, dead planets. She screws her eyes shut for what feels like a lifetime, odd shapes swirling on the back of her eyelids like a universe of her own until she opens them again and— _oh Rao, Earth_.

Something has to be wrong. She’s not slowing down at all—she’s speeding up and her pod is on fire. She closes her eyes, tightens her hands around her dress, pulls her knees as high as she can and thinks, _d_ _ead before I even had the chance to live_.

* * *

Slowly, her eyes flutter open, and then slam shut again when a glaring yellow hits her eyes. It doesn’t hurt so much as it feels… strange, however. Like her eyes are seeing everything for the first time.

Cautiously, she tries again, allowing herself to adjust to the golden glint of her surroundings. Her mouth parts a little at the sight; stalks grow from the ground around her, dazzling as they reflect the light of the yellow sun. She looks straight up, and there it is. Earth’s sun. That must be what’s making her feel so strange.

All of a sudden, the sun is smothered by darkness again and for a horrifying second she thinks maybe she’s fallen back into her never ending sleep, until the shadow wrenches off the window to her pod and tosses it aside as one could a tablet. She can’t see it’s face, if it even has one but inexplicably, she feels calm. She knows it from somewhere. It extends a hand; a Kryptonian hand it must be for it looks just like her own. 5 fingers, 5 fingernails, a palm. She takes it instinctively and the shadow pulls her out of her pod.

When her feet touch the ground she can hardly breathe. She’s longed for the feel of a solid floor for so, so long, that she spends half a minute staring down at her feet in absolute wonder, tears welling in her eyes and a huge grin spread across her face, failing to catch the fond smile of the shadow man.

Finally, she looks up and her breath gets caught in her throat. At eye-level is the House of El crest, and above that is the face of a baby, all grown up.

“Kara,” he says, so gently she can hardly hear it.

“ _Kal_.” 

* * *

Soon, she’s given to the Danvers family. Eliza, Jeremiah and Alex.

They’re lovely, she thinks, even though she can hardly understand a word they say at first. Jeremiah and Eliza have beautiful, warm smiles that remind her a little of her mother’s.

Oh. Her mother.

The first night was dreadful. After a tour, dinner, and a proper acquaintance with her new family she had been shown to her room. The door had closed behind her and she’d suddenly started sobbing, barely able to catch a breath between each snivel. It had hit her, all at once in all it’s magnitude: Her family, dead. Krypton, dead. Rao, dead.

She’d closed her eyes, sagging against her door with her head cradled against her knees, too exhausted to fear the dark abyss of sleep.

The next morning she wakes to rays of yellow light and the cells of her body feeling bubbly and warm. The strangest feeling. And, despite falling asleep in the most uncomfortable of positions, no parts of her ache or crack when she stands; even when she stretches her arms up above her head, behind her back, side to side. This must be what her mother had meant when she said Earth’s sun would make her strong.

Thinking of her mother and by association, her father and Krypton brings a new wave of tears, so she quickly wipes her face, checks her appearance in the mirror for blotchiness and heads downstairs. She’s _famished_.

Even at the top of the stairs she can hear Eliza humming softly to herself and Jeremiah outside, his feet crunching against the grass and even the calm, sleeping breathing of her new sister. Yet another strange ability. Shaking her head, she pads down the stairs and moves towards Eliza, who’s cooking.

“Hello, Eliza.” English is hard to wrap her tongue around, and she knows her accent is strong but Eliza doesn’t seem to mind at all. Her tutor back on Krypton certainly would, however. (It doesn’t matter, now. He’s dead, just like the rest of them.)

“Kara!” _Oh, that was loud_. A small frown makes it’s way across Kara’s face but she returns the eager smile to the best of her ability. “I’m just making breakfast,” she points to the pan where strips of meat sizzle, “I hope you like bacon!” Kara doesn’t understand a word but she assumes the meat is ‘bacon’ and that ‘breakfast’ is the meal, so she nods politely and takes a seat. “Alex!” Eliza shouts, and _Oh Rao, that was even louder_. This time, Kara can’t mask the discomfort, a pained gasp escaping and her eyes screwing shut. Her hands itch to shield her ears. “Alex! Breakfast is ready!”

Finally, Eliza turns around and see’s Kara’s expression of agony and her hand rushes to cover her mouth. “Oh, sweetie I’m so sorry. Clark told me your ears would become sensitive, but I didn’t think it would be so quick!” Kara opens her eyes at the soothing tone, and visibly relaxes.

“Nahkluv,” _thank you_ , she says for the quiet, before Alex comes storming down the stairs, each stomp sending a shot of pain through her body. Alex looks angry, that’s for certain. Kara understands. She wouldn’t have wanted a stranger to start living in her home, either.

“Alex, please be quieter. You know what Clark said about her hearing. Soon everything is going to start hurting for her.” At this, Alex seems to soften, an apologetic look sent Kara’s way.

They eat breakfast in silence, which is the most awkward thing Kara has ever experienced (not even the most delicious meal she’s ever eaten—bacon! Her new favourite food—is not enough to overcome the discomfort) and after finishing Kara hurries back upstairs to the solace of her room after a polite thank you.

* * *

Kara’s powers increase. She breaks countless things, and before long she’s afraid of herself and what she’s capable of. She hardly lets Eliza or Jeremiah touch her in case she hurts them, and she keeps her hands tight to her sides lest she knock something over.

She hears everything and everyone, and sometimes it feels like it’s killing her: heartbeats, a gentle sigh, a swish of hair. She’s invulnerable, yet she is so, _so_ vulnerable. Hours are spent just lying in bed with the covers over her head hoping that it will somehow drown out the sounds of people miles away. Her eyes freak out a lot, too. Sometimes she looks at the floor and sees thousands of worms crawling at her feet and she jumps, because, well, worms are gross. It’s not until Alex tells her she’s using her x-ray vision again that she calms down.

She starts school once she’s mastered English, which takes about a month. Her spelling is _atrocious_ , however, so even though she knows lightyears beyond what she’s being taught she’s stuck with people that are far less knowledgable than her. Not that she ever holds it against them; she knows the advantages she’s been given. Born on a planet millions of years technologically advanced.

Alex warms up to her over the months; they grow closer but if feels like there will always be that barrier between them. 13 years of lost time that real sisters would have experienced and bonded over. Kara desperately wishes they were closer.

Kal visits sometimes, but not often. Sometimes it’s like they’re not even related. He looks at her like she’s a child, but he doesn’t carry the weight of a dead planet on his shoulders, doesn’t remember his friends or his parents and he can’t even speak Kryptonese all that well. He’s more of a child than she’ll ever be. It hurts, seeing him, that she stops looking forward to his visits.

She just feels so… alone.

* * *

Starting High School is a breath of fresh air. She has lead-lined glasses courtesy of Jeremiah, her and Alex are closer, and she has friends! It took over a year for Kara to crawl out of her shell, but it was well worth the wait.

She still feels sad. She still cries. She still resents Kal, a little.

Her spelling is still abysmal, she understands about 2% of pop culture references, squeezes a bit too tight when she hugs her friends and parents, and still has a terrible understanding of time. But, she’s happier.

Until she gets expelled.

* * *

Eliza and Jeremiah send Kara halfway across the world to a prestigious all-girls boarding school in Ireland. Not because we hate you, they say, but to protect you. Kara knows she’s foolish to think anything else but there’s always that voice at the back of her head telling her they’ve always wanted to get rid of her. She’s just given them an excuse, now.

Nevertheless, she travels to Ireland by plane despite her insistence that it’s cheaper and quicker if she were to just fly, and this is how she finds herself standing outside the black steel gates of Blackrock Boarding School, a terrifying building that towers over her and casts a big dark shadow over the entrance, reminiscent of her time in the Phantom Zone. Even though its half 5 in the afternoon, it feels like this school is stuck permanently at midnight, and the lack of sunlight tires her just a little. A guard— _this school has guards?_ —opens the gates, leads her inside with a hand ghosting over her back. His heartbeat is dull and slow. He’s bored out of his mind. Eventually, she reaches an office having passed dozens of classrooms. The guard nods to her when she smiles kindly, his eyes still a little glazed over like he’s not really with it, and leaves.

She takes a seat against the wall. It feels like hours pass by of her jiggling her leg, staring at a crack in the paint across from her and straining to hear if anything interesting is happening in the rest of the school, until the door opens and she’s shown in by an assistant. (It was really only 5 minutes, she realises after checking her watch.)

She’s heard many things about Headmistress Grant from Eliza and Jeremiah, including tales of her unflinching stoicism, in addition to her rumoured connections with the FBI. Supposedly that was how Kara had been granted acceptance into such a prestigious school. Bribery? Blackmail? Who knew.

Ms. Grant sits regally, hands splayed across the desk with her arms open, almost like she’s daring Kara to challenge her and her position. Kara almost snorts: if she really wanted she could flatten this whole school, let alone take over this tiny woman. But still, she can’t help but be intimidated. Ms. Grant sits on a throne and she is most definitely worthy of the crown if the reputation of this place is accurate.

“Ms. Danvers,” she regards Kara, looking her up and down. “Sit.” Kara does as she’s asked. “Now, a transfer student to one of the most elite boarding schools a term into her year 12, for reasons ‘undisclosed'. You are quite the mystery.”

Kara expels a breath, a shy smile on her face. “You have no idea.”

“Oh, I most certainly do.”

Kara pauses, frowning. “Oh?”

“Martha,” the assistant looks at Ms. Grant, “could you please leave us?”

“Of course, Ms. Grant.”

“Thank you, Martha.”

Kara’s heart starts to race, and a slow, satisfied smile spreads across Ms. Grants face.

“You’re an alien.”

“I— What?!” She gasps, “No! I’m not!”

“Oh, my dear. You’re parents made me aware of the situation, and I completely understand. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with m—“

“Eliza and Jeremiah told you?!”

“Yes, do keep up. Now, I understand you have certain sensitivities that we’ll need to try to—“

Kara can’t believe her ears— “You know I’m an alien!”

“Would you _stop_ interrupting me? Yes, I know you’re an alien. Where was I—? Oh, we’ll find you a roommate that isn’t too boisterous, keeps to themselves etcetera etcetera so you won’t have to deal with too much noise—in fact, I have someone perfect just in mind—and we’ll inform your teachers that you may need to leave class sometimes. You don’t need to worry at all. We have everything handled.”

In all honesty, Kara starts zoning out at ‘Where was I’ and doesn't return until Ms. Grant coughs and lifts an eyebrow, so she nods dumbly, her mouth a little parted and her eyes blinking. “Okay,” she says, continuing to nod. “Okay.”

Ms. Grant looks like she’s about to say something, eyes squinting, mouth open, but changes her mind at the last second. “Excellent. I’ll have a student take you around the school, just so you know your way around. Martha will take your belongings as well as your uniform to your dorm room, and you can unpack after dinner at 7.”

“Okay,” Kara says again. It’s as if she’s lost her entire vocabulary except for that one word. She nods and stands up. “Thank you.” Oh, seems as if she knows that one too.

* * *

Her tour guide shows up 2 minutes later as Kara waits, sitting in the seats outside of Ms. Grant’s office. She looks like she’s been running to get here, her chest is heaving and her heartbeat is racing.

“Hi,” she breathes, a bright smile on her face. “I’m Lucy Lane.”

Kara stands eagerly and puts her hand out, “I’m Kara Danvers. Nice to meet you!”

Lucy falters a little at the lack of reaction to her last name, but shrugs it off. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Did you run here?”

“I—“ she pauses, “Yeah. Ms. Grant is a bitch when it comes to tardiness.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t swear,” Kara says offhandedly, and starts walking ahead of Lucy. “It’s impolite.”

Behind her, Lucy frowns, tilting her head. “Uh… Okay. I’ll try and remember that.” She jogs up beside her. “I’ll show you what rooms you have your lessons in—Ms. Grant chose me because we have all the same ones.”

“Great!”

* * *

An hour later and they’ve covered the whole school except the cafeteria, and Kara’s stomach is rumbling like crazy. She can feel her mouth begin to salivate at the prospect of food, so much so that she’s dragging Lucy by the wrist to the queue, so distracted that she doesn’t notice someone’s eyes piercing the back of her head until she sits down with two full plates and a cup of water.

She starts eagerly on the roasted potatoes but her fork stops halfway to her mouth when the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Now _thats_ weird.

She’s fairly certain that’s not a power but more so an instinct, like humans have ‘gut feelings’. She whips her head around and immediately the feeling disappears and doesn’t reappear for the rest of the evening.

“God, I’m stuffed,” Kara sighs. “Like a turkey,” she adds as an afterthought, and readjusts her glasses.

Lucy smiles fondly. Already, Kara feels like such a genuine person that she can’t wait to be friends with her even if she does have some weird traits, like the ability to eat 2 full plates of roasted dinner in 3 minutes. She hasn’t even gotten a quarter way through her own plate.

It’s very loud here, Kara realises now that her attention isn’t as focused so she trains her hearing on Lucy’s heartbeat to drown everything else out (a trick she learnt from Kal). She doesn’t even notice that someone else has joined their table until Lucy waves a hand in front of Kara’s eyes. “Oh! Sorry. I just zoned out a little.” Kara says sheepishly, and turns to the newcomer. “Hi! I’m Kara.”

“Vasquez. Good to meet you.”

Kara tilts her head. “Vasquez? Isn’t that a last name?”

“Yeah,” Vasquez nods and takes a bite of a baby carrot. “Is that a problem?”

“Um, no?”

“Good.” She nods politely, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips.

“…Okay. I’m going to go and get seconds.” Kara stands and grabs her two plates, awkwardly waves goodbye to her two new friends and goes to the queue.

* * *

Lucy finally finishes her dinner in the time Kara took to demolish 4, and she guides her to the dorm rooms. 5 flights of stairs later and they come to dorm room 13B. They stand outside it for a few beats.

“Is this it?” Kara asks.

“Um, it should be, but hold on a sec.” She digs into her skirt pocket, taking out Kara’s timetable and map. “No way…”

“What?”

“Nothing! It’s just—um, your roommate is so scary that she made your predecessor transfer to another school.”

Kara rolls her eyes, scoffs. “Well, I’m tougher than most.” Just for added effect, she puffs out her chest and puts her hands on her hips.

Lucy smiles like she doesn’t believe her. “Okay, good luck then. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll pick you up from here so I can guide you to our lesson, if you’re even alive.” She goes in for a hug which Kara returns, _very_ gently resting her hands on Lucy’s back.

“Bye!”

Then, Lucy’s gone. Kara sucks in a breath and opens the door.

* * *

Kara’s eyes blink open slowly as light floods the room. She’s tucked so deep under her duvet that she has to pull it back a bit to find the source of light—the door opened.

Someone walks in and their heart rate spikes as they come to an abrupt stop. They must have finally noticed Kara, but she’s too tired to get out of bed and greet her so she buries back into her covers and closes her eyes.

She’s so tired in fact, that she doesn’t realise the piercing gaze feels strikingly familiar.


	2. fresh meat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief overview of Lena's childhood and her first few years at the boarding school, as well as her first impressions of the new girl, Kara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi !! this turned out a little longer than i thought it'd be, but oh well. 
> 
> lena's GCSE's are mentioned here, and if you don't know what that is, basically in the UK during ages 14-16 we have a 2 year course that we finish in our 11th year in a bunch of exams that span like, 4 weeks?  
> ooh, also i've changed Kara's age around a little after i first posted the first chapter so for those who haven't seen that, she's officially in yr 12 which is ages 16-17. 
> 
> disclaimer !!! i'm not irish so i really don't know all that much about what happens after GCSE's other than something called the 'leaving certificate' or whatever so just take everything i say w/ a grain of salt thanks (although i don't think theres any physical mention of it here??)
> 
> enjoy!!

Lena’s palm in Lionel’s is sweaty but she resists the urge to extract her hand and wipe it on her skirt, instead tightening her grip around her teddy bear. It’s clutched against her chest like a lifeline. 

Lionel seems quite lovely. His bald head is shiny and his eyes always seem so calm. The moment he’d walked into the orphanage she’d instantly been curious, and it had only piqued when he’d asked for her by name. It was certainly odd and the other children thought so too, but any uncertainty had been quickly replaced by elation when she discovered he wished to adopt her. 

So, here she is now, hand in hand with her new father, walking through another pair of oak doors where Lionel had told her she would meet her new mother Lillian, and her new brother Lex. She’s understandably nerve-wracked. She positively _must_ make a good impression.

Finally she catches sight of Lillian and she’s tall and beautiful and her eyes are piercing. Her gaze falls past her to a boy with a messy crop of hair sitting at a chess board with his head turned her way. She gives him a nervous smile. 

Meanwhile, Lionel and Lillian are talking above her but she pays no mind; it’s only adult stuff. She only swings her hand in Lionel’s a little while she waits for them to finish. 

“Lena,” she looks up at hearing her name, “this is your new mother.” 

At the confirmation, Lena gives Lillian the brightest, most loving smile she can muster, and runs off to Lex to join him at the table. 

* * *

Her first few years as a Luthor are torture. She tries so, _so_ desperately to adapt, mimicking every tick, every trait of her new family: the angle of their chins, their posture, their unfeeling voices. It’s not just appearances that make a Luthor, however. It’s disposition, too. Lillian’s cold, calculating character, Lionel’s steely resolve, Lex’s infallible intelligence. Lena may be as quick, as smart, but she could never be as cruel.

She hates her good heart. Hates that her very make-up doesn’t allow her to ever truly belong. And, how awful of a mother to nurture such self loathing in a child, yet Lena can’t resent her for it. Lillian took her in when she had no other place to go. She gave her a family. If she doesn’t prove herself as deserving of the Luthor name, she’ll surely be sent back to the orphanage. 

At least, that’s what Lena tells herself, over and over and _over_ again until, in her head, it becomes the absolute truth. Become a Luthor. Survive. 

Despite her unwavering efforts, Lillian still scoffs at her achievements if they’re anything less than the best, and refuses to acknowledge her when she _is_ the best. Nothing ever feels good enough when Lex is the only one she sees. 

Sometimes Lena thinks that Lex is how she got through it all: her only source of praise and love for all these years. Whenever she becomes too overwhelmed by the sheer stillness of the mansion, Lillian’s lack of affection or Lionel’s slow descent into illness, she wanders up to Lex’s room, gently knocks on his bedroom door with a box of chess tucked under her arm. She always beats him, but Lex encourages it.

* * *

She’s 13 and she’s almost, _almost_ convinced herself she has what it takes. Her chin naturally rests at an upward angle, elegantly sophisticated but not arrogant. Her back, constantly straight. Never a hair out of place. 

Her heart is hard too, now. The words that fall from her lips are often times cruel, always calculating. She looks upon the world like a chessboard, just as Lillian would want her too. 

* * *

Lionel passes away. Lex starts College. Lena is outed.

Lillian sends her half-way across the world to a boarding school in Ireland.

After all these years of pushing down her anger and replacing it with ice, Lena finally lets it surface. God, she _loathes_ Lillian. Hates her so much she can feel her blood boiling in her veins, her face growing red and hot, half-moons imprinted into her palms. Finally her greatest fears had come true; she’s been discarded.

All those years, trying to fit in, sacrificing bits and pieces of herself until hardly anything remained, all for nothing.

She lies on her new bed in her new dorm room at her new school and she doesn’t feel anything but anger, until she falls asleep with tear tracks down her cheeks. 

* * *

The next morning while she’s brushing her teeth, glaring at her red rimmed eyes in a half-fogged up mirror, she decides that she’s not going to be a Luthor anymore. She’ll make Lillian regret ever adopting her. 

She brushes a little more furiously, spits and rinses. 

On her way back, she bumps into someone at the door leaving her dorm in sleepwear. Oh, right. She has a roommate now. 

She’s certainly… something. Ginger, braces, bright blue eyes with a rounded face. There’s a line of dried drool leaving the corner of the mouth, but Lena doesn’t mention it. Just puts on the most artificial smile she can muster, straining so much that it actually hurts a little, and walks past. Understandably, the girl scurries away with a brief, disturbed glance backward. 

 _God, that was awkward. Mental note to never smile again_ , Lena thinks, because her cheeks still feel a little odd and she certainly didn’t make a very good first impression. 

She forgot to take her contacts out last night and putting in new ones sound like hell, so she hesitantly puts her glasses on before changing into the uniform. It’s a little stiff at the joints, the collar is too tight around her neck and she doesn’t think she could run very well in this skirt if the situation called for it, but oh well. A final once over in the mirror and she leaves for her first class of the day. 

* * *

She’s been put next to Veronica Sinclair for Physics. She’s slim, tall, very intimidating and _ridiculously_ beautiful but Lena sucks in a breath and greets her politely anyway. Veronica slides her gaze down Lena’s body, then up to her hair and her eyebrows and then finally her eyes. She gives an unimpressed ‘hmph.’

 _What is with these bad impressions today?_ Lena wonders and furrows her brow. _Is it the glasses?_ She fumbles with them a little, knowing she must look like an absolute nerd. _The american accent?_

The teacher calls everyone to attention, and introduces Lena to the class. Everyone turns to her, including her roommate who’s apparently in this class too, and she just wants to disappear. So, she lifts an eyebrow, returns all of the stares and gives a slow, confident smirk. “It’s nice to meet you all,” she says in a deliberate drawl, and finally Veronica gives her some attention. She looks vaguely interested. 

Looks like she won’t be ditching her Luthor name for a while, after all. 

* * *

Veronica introduces her to her friends, who are equally intimidating and beautiful and before she knows it it’s like she’s been accepted into an elitist cult. She sits with them at lunch, eats what Veronica eats and goes to the rest of her lessons before retiring to her room. She has a few hours until dinner where she’ll probably be sitting with them again, which she decides to spend lying on her bed staring at the ceiling with the lights off. 

She’s absolutely _exhausted_. Lena can’t remember a time when socialising was so draining, even at the numerous galas she was forced to attend. She won’t miss those. 

It’s a definite setback in her plans to ditch the Luthor name, but baby steps, she tells herself. She can’t just change who she is over night. 

* * *

She’s about two months into year 10 when she’s invited to her first party. It’s at the home of someone from the nearby ‘boy’s school’, and she gets absolutely _hammered_. Like, double vision, unable to walk properly, sick in the toilet hammered. She’s so hungover the next morning that she vows never to even look at alcohol again, while Veronica is wiping lipstick off of her neck and fixing her hair with the most flippant, at ease attitude Lena’s ever seen. _How_ Veronica doesn’t have a headache is mystifying. 

She’s still a little tipsy for the rest of the day, the alcohol not quite out of her system so she glues herself to Veronica’s side thinking that she won’t make too much of a fool of herself if Veronica is there to guide her. There’s something a little off, though. Veronica won’t look her in the eye and keeps freezing whenever Lena reaches out to touch her. With her luck, she probably did something embarrassing that she can’t remember. 

(If she concentrates really, _really_ hard, she thinks maybe the lipstick from that morning was the same shade she’d been wearing last night.)

* * *

 

Veronica kisses her. It’s sloppy and wet and they’re both drunk but this time Lena knows she’ll remember it because she’s only had two cups of something (vodka? Cider? Wine?), but she’ll pretend to forget anyway. They’ve made out more times than she can count, yet it always goes undiscussed because they’re both drunk. It doesn’t count as a _real_ kiss. 

Lena pulls back because Veronica bites her lip a little too hard and it hurts, and then they start giggling and don’t stop until Lena falls off of her unto the floor, red solo cups scattered around her. A beat. They burst out laughing again, and Lena’s chest hurts a little but she can’t stop! She thinks she can taste copper and she swipes her tongue over her lower lip, which Veronica laughs at again. 

“Your lip is red, you know.” Veronica lowers a finger from her position on the couch and prods Lena’s lip very gently. “Is it MAC?”

Lena sniggers, “No you idiot, it’s blood. You _bit_ me!”

“I thought it would be hot!” She says indignantly, and starts laughing again. “Oh my God, does it hurt?”

“Yes! You bit me very hard!”

“Well, I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not.”

“Am too.”

“Prove it!”

Veronica narrows her eyes until they’re practically closed, pondering for a few moments. “Hmm,” she says, and rolls off the couch straight onto Lena so their noses are brushing.

“Oomph! Hey!” 

Veronica laughs, “Sorry,” and kisses her. 

* * *

Another year passes. Lena and Veronica choose to forget their drunk make-out sessions, her accent becomes a little more Irish and she finishes her GCSE’s. All A*s she hopes, but she won’t find out for another 2 months. 

Lena and her elite cult decide to go camping. She never really became close to anyone other than Veronica, but they’re all right, she thinks. A little into year 11, some boys from the other school had pushed their way into their friend group but it makes little difference to the dynamics. All snobby, all assholes, but what can you expect from the kids of the world’s most wealthiest?

Siobhan brings the tents, Leslie scouts the location and Veronica supplies the alcohol. They stay at a pretty remote campsite a few miles from the school and spend 2 hours trying to start a campfire because “It’s harder than it looks!” Mike says. Lena scoffs because she knows Mike is kind of an idiot, and asks someone else to take over. Leslie starts the fire with two clicks of the lighter. 

Everyone takes out their revision notes and textbooks and other random scraps of paper they had gained over their 2 year course and throws them into the fire which bursts alive, hungry for the fuel. Lena’s just glad to be rid of it, even though the exams had been easy and she didn’t need to try anywhere near as hard as her friends had. It feels magical nonetheless. An important milestone. 

Veronica pops open a bottle of champagne and everyone squeals when the cork shoots up into the sky. “Cheers!” She screams, pouring the drink out into some cups. “Exams are over!”

Lena shakes her head and downs her cup, wondering if she and Veronica will make out tonight again like they always do.

* * *

Returning to school is certainly weird, having just spent two months back at home with her mother. Lillian was satisfied with her grades (all A*s, just as she’d hoped) but nothing more than that. It’s okay though, because Lex had come by, seen them and hugged her tighter than she’d been hugged in the past 3 years. He looked worn out; deep, ugly bags under his eyes and his hair layered with grease, which was odd to see when paired with his bright smile. 

She hasn’t talked to Veronica all summer, but she expected as much. They’d never really been proper friends, and they likely never would be. She wonders briefly if she’s ever actually had a real, genuine friend. (She hasn’t.)

Shifting her bag on her shoulder, she climbs the 5 flights of stairs to her dorm room for this year, stopping at 13B. _God, I should really exercise more._

Her roommate doesn’t appear to have moved in yet, which Lena is happy about. Hopefully she’ll be able to spend the next day or so unpacking, decorating and sleeping, without the judgement of another human being. _Hopefully_ , her roommate won’t be too annoying. 

Thinking about roommates brings her back to her first one, Nicole, the ginger. She was an absolute bitch, and Lena’s glad to be rid of her. She also thinks about her vow to stop being a Luthor, but that hadn’t exactly worked out, had it? She’s still cruel and cold when she wants to be, and she’s retained all the lessons about posture and manners Lillian had taught her. 

 _This year_ , she thinks, _this year I’ll do it._

Not straight away, though. She’ll rebel cautiously. Just enough to grate on Lillian’s nerves, but not enough to get disowned or kicked out of her weird friend cult. 

* * *

This roommate is a bitch too, it turns out. Lena had thought, at first glance that she’d be rather nice. (Grey eyes, brown hair that reached the small of her back, a sharp nose. Admittedly, Lena had had a bit of a crush) but a few weeks in and she revealed her true colours. Iona, she’s called, had strewn all her belongings and trash over the span of their shared room, even going as far to put stuff on _Lena_ ’s bed! The audacity. 

Lena only makes it two months before she decides she has to put an end to this. 

The next day, Iona transfers out of school. 

 _Baby steps_ , Lena reminds herself. 

* * *

Lena’s beginning the ascent to her dorm when she sees her; a blonde walking down the corridor. She’s been zoning out for the past few minutes because Veronica’s been going on about Mike and how much of a dickhead he is (like she isn’t already aware) but she snaps awake immediately when she catches a glimpse of the ‘new girl’. 

No-one knew who she was, not even Siobhan who had a penchant for knowing everything about everyone, and Lena was instantly curious. She passed by too quickly for Lena to decipher anything about her other than the fact she’s blonde, wears glasses and is a very quick walker by the looks of it. 

“I—um, actually have quite a bit of homework to do, but I’d rather not do it in my room. Come with me outside?” Lena asks, nudging Veronica in the arm to make her look up from her phone. 

She frowns. “I’m not really in the mood to do homework. I was planning on just returning to my room and taking a nap before dinner.”

Lena tries to hide the disappointment by looking ahead. “Oh, that’s fine. I’ll see you there.”

They’re about to part ways but not before Veronica stops dead in the stairwell and catches Lena’s arm. “Siobhan bribed Larry— that guard at the gates? She says she has information on the new girl.” A mischievous smile spreads on her lips. “She’ll send it in the chat. Go do your homework, Luthor.”

Lena has to admit, she’s glad she has such resourceful friends. She doubts that the kids back at Metropolis would have had the gall to bribe an authority figure. 

Veronica disappears and Lena heads outside towards the benches, pulls out her various pieces of homework and gets started. She’s about half way through her work load when she remembers what Veronica had said about Siobhan, and eagerly pulls it out, scrolling all the way to the top of the chat. 

_new messages from ssmythe in the cult chat_

_ssmythe at 17:52 : omg guess who just bribed larry and got all the goss on that new girl_

_ssmythe at 17:52 : me, thats who_

_ssmythe at 17:52 : youre welcome_

_roulette at 17:53 : well? u going to give it to us or what_

_Mike at 17:53 : wait what new girl_

_roulette at 17:53 : the mystery girl who just joined our school dumbass_

_Mike at 17:54 : oh is she hot_

_roulette at 17:54 : ohhhh myg od just shut up and let siobhan speak_

_ssmythe at 17:54 : thank you. anyway_

_ssmythe at 17:54 : apparently her names kara. no last name ?_

_ssmythe at 17:54 : and she's in our year_

_roulette at 17:56 : …is that it?_

_ssmythe at 17:56 : yeah_

_roulette at 17:56 : are you fucking kidding me_

_ssmythe at 17:56 : larry didn’t know shit she's like a real life cryptid_

_roulette at 17:57 : lenas the real life cryptid shut up_

_roulette at 17:57 : i cant believe you didn't get anything not even her gd last name_

_Mike at 17:58 : i bet shes hot_

_roulette at 17:58 : oh my fucking god_

_roulette changed Mike’s name to the ‘dumbest person alive on this planet’_

Lena rolls her eyes; of course Siobhan didn’t really have anything. She shakes her head and gets back to her work. 

* * *

Before she knows it, almost an hour has passed and it’s dinner time, so she hurriedly packs up and heads to the cafeteria. It’s already filling up; her group is sat at their regular table and there’s a space beside Veronica for her to sit. Eager to eat, she moves towards the queue and waits for the people in front of her to realise she’s there, panic, and then let her past. It only takes a few seconds, and she’s at her designated seat in under 2 minutes. Probably a record, she thinks. 

All of a sudden, there’s a barely imperceptible hush in the room and Lena looks up from her kale salad to see the new girl dragging Lucy Lane behind her by the hand as she races towards the queue. 

Lena does a double take: She’s dragging Lucy _Lane_ by the hand? Lucy Lane never gets dragged anywhere. She couldn’t even be dragged into her friend group, even though Siobhan and Leslie had asked her several times. If this new girl had manipulated Lucy into obeying to her… what kind of social prowess might she have?

Veronica must be on the same wavelength because she says, “is that—?”

“Omg. That bitch!” Siobhan shovels a forkful of pasta into her mouth in her fury. “She’s taken Lucy away from us.”

“Lucy was never with us in the first place, Siobhan,” Lena murmurs, poking at her food as her eyes are still trained on the new girl, or, Kara as she’s apparently called. 

Lena can’t see her very well from all the way across the room, but Kara looks quite pretty. As in, her facial features seem vaguely symmetrical and her hair is nice, but it’s clear that her cult has officially ruled her public enemy number one because of her affiliation with Lucy. So, she’s not pretty at all in their eyes. 

“Ugh, I bet she’s ugly,” Siobhan says, “and she has a really nasally voice. 10 bucks?”

“ _I_ bet she’s British,” Leslie says. 

Veronica rolls her eyes at their childishness, “well _I_ don’t give one. She’ll fizzle into the background like the rest of them in a few weeks. She’s just a novelty because she’s new.”

Kara’s back at her table, sitting across from Lucy when suddenly she whips her head around and Lena looks back down at her salad as quickly as she can. Had she known—?

Lena doesn’t look in her direction for the rest of the evening, not even when she sees her get up for seconds in her peripheral vision. 

* * *

Veronica and Siobhan manage to persuade Lena and Leslie to hang out in their dorm room before curfew and they all pile in; Veronica on her bed, Leslie backward on a desk chair and Siobhan and Lena sitting on the floor opposite each other. 

“Ugh, J’onnzz is kicking my ass,” Siobhan moans, quickly getting up to retrieve a textbook and pencil case from her desk. “I think he hates me in particular.”

“I wonder why,” Veronica laughs when Siobhan throws a pen in her direction. “You are kind of a bitch in his lessons though.”

“Only because _he’s_ a bitch to me. Could you throw that pen back? I need it.” 

Lena rolls her eyes and knocks her head back against Veronica’s bed, watching as said pen travels over her head. 

Veronica sighs deeply, a look of irritation flitting across her face. “You guys are boring. Lena, could you reach under my bed—it’s to the left of you I think—and get my bottle?”

“On a Monday night?” Lena asks skeptically. 

“ _Yeah_ , on a Monday night. What are you going to do about it?”

Lena shakes her head and reaches around beneath the bed, finally grasping onto the bottle of vodka and handing it to Veronica over her shoulder. “That stuff is disgusting; I have no idea how you drink it straight.”

Veronica snorts, “Just because you’re a lightweight…”

“Hey, give it over once you’re done with it, will you?” Leslie asks, and as soon as Veronica takes a swig she hands it to her. Lena and Siobhan share a look.

Two hours later and Veronica and Leslie are sufficiently tipsy. They would be more drunk had Lena not taken the bottle off them an hour in and hidden it under Siobhan’s bed. 

A silence settles in the room, and Lena thinks that Leslie has maybe fallen asleep in the chair. Veronica is still awake and kicking, that’s for sure though. “Hey—that Kara chick, she’s pretty hot, right?”

Siobhan grimaces. “You sound like Mike.”

“Hey!”

“She’s right,” Lena tells Veronica. “You practically quoted him.”

“Shut up, Luthor,” and Lena bristles a little, “You thought she was hot too, you couldn’t take your eyes off her.”

“I couldn’t even _see_ her from where we were sitting, I need a new contact prescription.”

“Yeah, yeah…” A pause. “You know, Siobhan I’m still pissed you couldn’t find anything more about her."

“It’s not my fault! I even went to Mrs. Grant’s office to try Martha but she just would. Not. Budge. Suggested that I try and befriend her and find out about her myself—Ha! As if.”

“Wait, maybe that’s a good idea.”

“What?”

“Befriending her. But like…” Veronica puts her fingers up to resemble air quotes, “”befriend” her, you know? Just to find out who she is and then we can ditch her.”

Lena bites her lip and resists the urge to protest. Luckily, Siobhan does it for her. 

“That’s kind of a bitch move, Veronica. I mean, not even _I’m_ so obsessed with her that I’d do that.”

Veronica huffs. “I said it before and I’ll say it again. You guys are boring as fuck."

The conversation wanes for the rest of the night, and at 10 Lena decides it’s finally time to get to her dorm room. She coaxes Leslie awake and leads her to the door, saying a quick goodbye to the other two (she gets just a grunt in response from Veronica and a ‘see you, Luthor’ from Siobhan. She thinks that they use her last name on purpose sometimes, just to anger her.) Finally, she says goodnight to Leslie when they get to her door, who says nothing in return. 

Lena trudges slowly to her room—her butt hurts from sitting on the floor for so long—and walks in. 

She almost has a heart attack when she sees her. 

The new girl, in a duvet cocoon with her eyes barely poking over the top and squinting at her. She gulps. 

Luckily, Kara decides she isn’t bothered enough to say anything, and burrows into her covers a little. Lena lets out a breath and doesn’t move for a few seconds. The new girl. Her roommate. 

She decides that she’s just too tired and so pushes it out of her mind for Tomorrow Lena to have to deal with, gets changed out of her uniform and into her silk pyjamas, decides to forego brushing her teeth and tucks herself into her bed. She lays on her back for a bit, and then rolls onto her side to look at Kara. 

Only her hair is visible and it’s splayed wildly over her pillow. Her blocky glasses are on her nightstand and her uniform is thrown haphazardly towards the end of her bed, spilling onto the floor a little. _If she’s another Iona, God help her_ , Lena thinks, and rolls onto her other side and closes her eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok next chapter we'll get into the groove of school life. and don't worry! the bits where i just glossed over lena's past e.g. lionel's death, lena being outed, we'll go a lot more into in later chapters. 
> 
> if you enjoyed please drop a kudo and a comment!!


	3. adversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara meets Veronica and Siobhan, ponders over the importance of last names and then meets her elusive roommate for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! had a case of the third chapter blues (i swear it's a real thing) but finally forced myself to sit down and write this, as well as plan the next two chapters out. i guess for the most part this is a filler chapter, but next update will be chock full of action don't worry !!
> 
> ooh, side note, j'onn is an alien, but kara doesn't know that. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

Kara wakes, very slowly as the light trickles in through the blinds. She can feel it warming her skin and energizing her cells, and a soft smile graces her lips. She loves waking up. 

Recharging has it’s cons as well, though. Once her vision isn’t as blurry, she’s looking 2 floors up into another person’s bedroom (whoever she is, she’s watering her plant and nudging her roommate awake) then looking past that into the sky, and then back down to the piping in her ceiling. Kara quickly rolls onto her side and brings her glasses to her face. 

She sighs. _There. Much better._

Cautiously, she slides out of bed. She had used a bout of super speed to grab her glasses, so accidentally using it again is twice as easy, now. Thank Rao her roommate isn’t still in bed, else she might have risked exposure. 

A quick glance at the clock tells her she has about 30 minutes until classes start so she grabs her shower supplies and her toothbrush and speeds down the hallway to the bathroom (at a fast _human_ pace, that is), but stops in her tracks when she crosses the bathroom thresh-hold. _Oh_ , she thinks, because she forgets that she has to share her bathroom now that she attends a boarding school. _Gosh, darn it. Now I can’t super speed through getting ready._

Theres a tall girl standing at one of the mirrors, touching up her makeup. Kara doesn’t know _why_ , because her skin looks perfect, but she shakes it off and passes her to get to the farthest shower stall. Before she can reach it though, the girl turns to her insanely fast and says her name. 

“Kara,” she calls, “the new girl.”

Kara doesn’t really know what to say so she just squints her eyes. Yes, she’s the new girl! It’s not that big of a deal. 

“I’m Veronica Sinclair. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she drawls, casting her gaze down Kara’s sushi pyjama clad body. “What tasteful style you have.”

“I—“ Was that sarcasm? “Thank you,” she says, anyway. As nice as this girl is being though, Kara can’t shake the idea that Veronica has some hidden, evil, ulterior motive. “Uh—I’m just, going to shower now.” She gives her a polite smile. 

“No, wait.” And Kara pauses mid-step, turns to face Veronica again. “You’re new.” 

She wonders why Veronica must take a pause between every sentence, but nods at her statement.

“You must be awfully lonely, coming from God knows where into this school with no friends.”

“I have friends,” Kara insists, immediately on the defensive and resisting the urge to stomp her foot and accidentally put it through the floor. “Lucy and Vasquez.”

Veronica tilts her head up distastefully. “Right, well. I’m here, if you ever need someone to talk to or sit with at lunch.” She gives a sickeningly sweet smile, and Kara can feel her skin _crawl_. She’s getting some _major_ bad vibes. 

“Um! I’m fine as I am, thanks! Uh—I’m just—I need to shower so, bye.” She scurries off and hides behind the shower curtain without a look back. She hears Veronica give an amused huff. 

She exits the shower only when she hears Veronica leave and she has no idea how long that took so she brushes her teeth quickly, rinses and spits and is back in her dorm as fast as she’s allowed to go. The clock tells her it’s 5 minutes until her first lesson so she’ll have to skip breakfast ( _darn!_ ) in order to get there on time. 

While she’s throwing on her blazer she sees a post-it note stuck to her desk, which says ‘ _kara! you weren’t here when i came to pick you up? waited 10 mins but you were still a no show. went to breakfast without you, sorry — Lucy xx_

Oh, _crap_! Now she has to find her way to her lesson with just a map.

* * *

She gets there with half a minute to spare, her hair still damp and her shirt twisted and ruffled, but she gets there nonetheless. She pans her gaze across the room, spots Veronica as well as a dark-haired girl beside her who’s heart rate seems to spike, and then to a platinum blonde and then a little ways away, to Lucy. _Thank Rao._

She fiddles with her glasses self-consciously when she goes to sit, and gives Lucy a warm smile in response to her immensely guilty one. “I’m so sorry—“ Lucy goes to say, but Kara interrupts her.

“It’s _fine_ , I swear. Thank you for the post-it note. I probably would have waited for you until lunch if you hadn’t left it,” she says.

“It’s the least I could do.”

Kara scrunches her nose up, “yeah,” she says jokingly, then laughs when Lucy laughs. 

She chances a glance behind her to the back of the class where Veronica sits, then looks beside her to see the dark-haired girl again. She and Veronica are gorgeous, as well as the blonde girl so it makes sense that they’re friends, Kara decides and then remembers that that girl’s heart rate had risen suddenly. 

The _only_ possible conclusion Kara can draw is that Veronica had told her of how rude Kara had been in rejecting her friendship proposal, and consequently she felt such hatred towards her that her body automatically went into fight or flight mode when she saw her walk in. 

Kara turns around and sinks into her seat a little, saddened, half-listening to Lucy talk about how particular their maths teacher is about homework until said teacher jogs in, red in the face, heart rate worryingly fast.

“I’m terribly sorry class, but the printer was jammed! Had to cross the school to get these questions printed out, but I have them!” Then, quieter, that no-one in the class except Kara can hear she says, “you’d think that for such a well-funded boarding school there’d be more printers.” Her watch tells her that the teacher is 2 minutes late.

“Talk about a lame excuse,” Lucy mutters. “If the printers are jammed for _our_ homework, it doesn’t matter.”

“That hardly seems fair,” Kara says.

“It isn’t,” but before Lucy can continue the teacher launches into the lesson.

Mrs. Postlethwaite hands out worksheets to the entire class on logarithms early on and says she expects everyone to spend the full lesson on it as well as a bit of out-of-class time after a brief explanation on what to do, but 15 minutes is enough for Kara to complete it (although, for her it feels much longer). According to Lucy, yesterday they had finished the topic and are now just checking they really understand. But, after only a bit of struggle at the start with trying to compare the display of the questions to what she learned on Krypton, everything else is easy.

So, she raises her hand delicately, much to Lucy’s shock, and when that doesn’t get her teacher’s attention she clears her throat. Finally, Mrs. Postlethwaite looks up from her marking and furrows her brow at her. “Yes?”

Kara’s face begins to redden, “um, I’ve—“

“Spit it out, girl.”

“I’ve finished?”

The room stills and Kara can feel everyone’s eyes on her. A familiar piercing one, in particular. 

“Are you sure? There’s almost 40 questions on there.”

“I’m… aware.” _What is it with everyone stating obvious facts today?_

“Well—You’ve probably got some wrong. Why don’t you check—?”

“I have,” Kara says, timidly. She cringes when she remembers what the Danvers had told her: _Never draw unnecessary attention to yourself!_

“Um, alright. I… have the answers here.” Mrs. Postlethwaite nods to herself, “come collect them, and I’ll also give you something extra to work on.”

Kara does as she’s asked, face still impossibly red and stands while the teacher shuffles around her desk looking for something. By now, most of the students have returned to their work but a select few are still looking at her incredulously, Veronica, and the brunette being two of them. _Rao, I bet they hate me even more now! They’ll think I’m showing off._ A small frown flits across her face before Mrs. Postlethwaite hands her the new worksheet, with a small note attached. 

‘ _I’m sorry, Ms. Grant told all your teachers that you would likely be advanced in your classes, and I simply forgot. I’ll make certain that I remember it for next time. :)’_

Kara shoots her a grateful smile and returns to her seat, not daring to meet the gaze of Veronica and her friend, who are _still_ staring at her. She fiddles with her glasses; it seems she’s already made some enemies. 

* * *

Her next lesson is history, and this time Lucy guides her to her lesson with her arm hooked in hers. She seems a little giddy actually, so Kara asks her, “Why do you look so excited?”

Lucy seems caught off guard for a second until she quickly schools her expression. “Mr. J’onnzz is what I’m excited about. He’s _incredible_ , really passionate about what he teaches which is so rare nowadays.”

Kara hums, even though she doesn’t quite agree. Her teachers back when she lived with the Danvers seemed so enthusiastic at the beginning of every lesson, even if the students were much less so. It seems this school sucks the life out of everyone.

They round a corner and Lucy pulls her through an open door, Kara letting her because she has no idea where she’s going. A very tall man, supposedly Mr. J’onnzz is scribbling on the board with chalk and only turns to them when Lucy says, “Hi Mr. J’onnzz!”

“Lucy Lane, my favourite student,” he says warmly, and then his gaze moves to Kara. His hand stops writing and a deep frown mars his face, like he’s concentrating really hard. Kara shifts uncomfortably and mumbles a polite greeting. Still frowning however, he doesn’t respond and instead gestures for her to sit in an empty seat far away from Lucy and instead with a girl with shoulder-length, straight brown hair and impeccable winged eyeliner. (Kara had tried, several times to replicate something similar a few years ago but to no avail.)

“Hi, I’m Kara. It’s nice to meet you.” She sticks out a hand, but she doesn’t receive one in return. 

Instead, she gets a sneer. “Siobhan Smythe.”

The attitude is certainly reminiscent of Veronica’s, and she swears she can smell a bit of Veronica’s perfume on her but she shakes the negative thoughts off and sits down. Lucy sends her a sad look from across the room, and Kara pouts, ignoring Siobhan’s eye roll from beside her. 

“How did _you_ of all people manage to befriend Lucy Lane?”

“What do mean, _you_?” Kara frowns and turns to face her.

“You know—“ Veronica looks at her like she’s stupid, which Kara bristles at. “Your hair is super messy, your tie is all over the place and your shirt isn’t even tucked in properly.” At this, Kara hastily tucks it in. “You are nothing like her.”

“You don’t need to be similar to be friends—and, why do you keep saying her last name like that?”

Siobhan lifts an eyebrow. “Because, it’s important?”

“It is?” Kara squints.

Siobhan’s mouth parts, “wait you mean… you don’t know who she is?”

Kara scrunches her face up and readjusts her tie a little, “Of course I know who she is. She’s my friend, Lucy. Doesn’t like broccoli.”

Siobhan just seems absolutely flabbergasted, and Kara doesn’t know what to say so she shakes her head and faces the board, just as the dark-haired girl walks in. As expected, her heart rate spikes and Kara wonders how rejecting the friendship of another person could cause so much hatred to form. 

She’s walking towards the back of the room and sends a small smile to Siobhan, which Siobhan returns if not a little stiff, and says, “Siobhan. How much did you write for the essay?”

 _Oh no._ Are they friends? Does that mean—Siobhan is friends with _Veronica_? Oh, Rao. 

“About a page and a half in a practically unreadable scrawl. J’onnzz will probably just get me to redo it,” she shrugs. “How about you, Luthor?”

Kara can see ‘Luthor’ visibly stiffen, but she answers anyway. “3-ish pages?”

Siobhan rolls her eyes, scoffs. “Of course you did. Well, not only will I be getting a detention but I’m also stuck next to the new girl for the rest of the year, who, apparently doesn’t even know who Lucy Lane is. Talk about socially inept.”

Kara scowls and her glasses slip down her nose a little, “I’m right here, you know.”

Siobhan doesn’t even look at her, “I know. Anyway, I don’t even think she’s worth the hassle. She’s kind of boring.”

Finally, Luthor looks at her, and she swears she knows the gaze from somewhere, tickling the back of her mind, but she breaks eye contact after a second or too because her green eyes are _really_ intense. “Nice to meet you.”

Kara, shocked at the polite tone despite her unwavering belief that this girl hates her guts, leaves her fumbling over her words until she can manage a stuttering, breathless, “Um, I—you too.” She almost smiles except Luthor’s heartbeat spikes once again, a sharp reminder that despite whatever outward attitude she’s displaying she still 100% loathes her. 

Luthor gives Siobhan a look that Kara can’t decipher and goes to sit two seats behind them, and Mr. J’onnzz starts the lesson. 

Why is it that last names are of so much importance in this school? She certainly understands because on Krypton, ‘last names’ showed title, wealth. Everywhere else on earth it seems of much less importance though, more like a simple identifier, or it acts to categorise families. Lane, Vasquez, Luthor… what families do they belong to, and why are they so significant?

* * *

 _Finally_ , it’s lunch time and Kara is ravenous. Her mouth is salivating at the mere thought of eating and she takes long strides to the cafeteria, Lucy and Vasquez in tow. They quickly get their lunches, Kara taking three times her friend’s portions, and sit down at the table they had sat at yesterday evening. This time however, Kara sits facing the direction of Veronica and co’s table. 

She begins to take large chunks out of her first sandwich, smiling around it when Lucy and Vasquez raise their eyebrows. She finishes it off quickly and picks up her next one when she stops, frowning. “Vasquez, I have a question?”

“Oh?”

“Yeah—um, why are last names so important at this school? Like, Siobhan kept going on about Lucy’s name and then she called her friend Luthor and you won’t tell me your first name, so…”

Vasquez blinks, seemingly confused. Kara gets that a lot. 

Lucy answers instead. “Last names are basically indicative of… power? Status? Wealth?”

Kara considers this, chewing on her sandwich for a few beats. “That’s just like what it was on my plan— my country! My country. My country was very different.”

Lucy and Vasquez look puzzled. “I thought you’re from America?”

“Yeah,” Vasquez says, “I mean, you have a bit of an accent but it’s largely American, just like us.”

“Oh, no, I mean my birth country. I was born in—Ukraine and I was adopted as a refugee when I was 13,” she finishes off her second sandwich and reaches for her third, swiping a few chips on the way. 

“Oh my God, that’s terrible,” Lucy says. “Are your parents still alive?”

Kara’s stomach drops and the sandwich stops halfway to her mouth. She looks away from them.

“…Kara?” Vasquez nudges her elbow. 

“Oh! Sorry, it’s just, um, a bit of a sore topic.”

“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have even asked, it was so insensitive of me—“

“No no! It’s fine. Um. My parents died in a fire. A really big one. Only my cousin and I survived.”

Kara blinks back her tears; she can remember saying goodbye to them like it was yesterday. And, when she got here, she didn’t even have the mission that they gave her to complete anymore. 

“That’s awful,” Lucy reaches out and rests her hand over Kara’s forearm. “I can’t even imagine what you went through.”

Kara shakes the touch off; the heat and the noise of the cafeteria is getting to her. “Yeah, you can’t.”

She’s still so unbelievably angry at Kal, and how he abandoned her with the Danvers. They’re _lovely_ lovely people but it could never compare to being with blood, even if he doesn’t remember a thing about Krypton. She understands at some level; he’s an adult, he has a life, he probably didn’t have the resources or the time to look after a 13 year old but it still hurt. Kara wishes more than anything that she could reconnect with Krypton, and Kal was the only way of doing that even if he was more human than she’d ever be.

She puts down her sandwich, appetite gone, and stares down at her tray for the rest of lunch. 

* * *

Kara feels a whole lot better after her last two periods; French and English Literature clearing her mind very well. Lucy had thankfully not brought up lunch at all and Kara had realised that she was incredibly lucky to have her as a friend. 

She climbs the last few steps to her floor and begins walking down the corridor when she hears voices, specifically Veronica and Siobhan’s voices. Pausing, she tunes her ears into the conversation, not paying mind to the ethical ramifications and hears Siobhan recounting their conversation at the beginning of their History class. 

“Oh my God, you will literally not believe this.”

“What?” She doesn’t recognise this voice. 

“The new girl? Kara? Doesn’t know who Lucy Lane is. Like, her last name. Didn’t seem to know Luthor’s, either. Super weird.”

“She was weird when I confronted her in the bathroom, too. Fidgety, nervous.” That’s Veronica. “Honestly? Feel like Luthor and her would get along. Both odd.”

“OMG, that reminds me, she greeted Kara with a ‘nice to meet you’. What a fake bitch!” 

“Knowing her, it probably wasn’t even fake. Sometimes I don’t even think she belongs in our group.”

“That’s not nice, she’s cool.” The unfamiliar voice once again. 

Veronica scoffs. “Yeah, right. She might pull off an icy facade but underneath she’s just as lame as the rest of the school. Without it _and_ her family, I wouldn't have even invited her in.”

Kara feels anger begin to bubble up in her chest at hearing this girl’s supposed best friends talking about her behind her back, and she curls her hands into fists. She decides she can’t stomach it anymore and storms off towards her dorm, leaving tiny dents in the floor in her wake. She hardly knows Luthor but it isn’t right to talk about people like that!

She huffs as she tears her door open, leaving it barely on the hinges and sits down on her bed with her arms across her chest, too preoccupied to realise that there’s another person in the room. 

“Hey,” the person says, “you broke the door.”

Kara looks up and—oh Rao—“Luthor?”

Luthor flinches, then turns towards her angrily. “Yes.”

“I—you’re my roommate.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t see your face last night, just your silhouette.”

“Oh.” Luthor pauses. “My names not Luthor.”

Kara furrows her brow and readjusts her glasses which had fallen down a little in her fury. “But, Siobhan—“

“I’m Lena.”

“Lena Luthor?”

“…Yes.” Lena clenches her jaw at this. 

“Oh, hey, it’s two L’s.”

“I’m aware.”

It’s silent now, if Kara tunes out the faucet dripping a few rooms down the hall or the heavy metal music playing 2 floors up. It’s painfully awkward, too. Kara gulps. 

“You should really think about cleaning up your side of the room,” Lena says, casting her eyes across her bed. “It’s ugly.”

Kara huffs. She may pity her because she just heard Lena’s friends talking about her behind her back, but that does _not_ mean she can make rude comments so offhandedly! She tightens her crossed arms. “I have the right to have an ugly side of the room! It is _my_ side of the room, after all.”

“I don’t care. Just keep it tidy or else I’ll scare you into transferring like I did my last roommate who displeased me.”

Kara glowers. “I’m not scared of you.”

“You should be. I am a Luthor, after all.”

“I don’t even know what that means! I don’t care if you’re a Luthor or a Smith or an El—“

“An El?”

“—It makes no difference to me. I don’t _care_ what your last name is. You could be the Queen of Ireland but you _cannot_ tell me what to do when you have no authority over my side of the room! I’m infuriated by how your friends seem to think that they’re in charge of this school simply because of their hoity-toity attitude and their supposed wealth and I won’t stand for it! I’ll only clean if Ms. Grant gives me a direct order, because she’s the only one who’s _actually_ in charge.”

Kara takes a moment to catch her breath and notices that Lena hasn’t spoken since her comment about El’s. She seems lost in thought. 

“Lena?” 

“There is no Queen of Ireland,” she says softly, “But there’s a Queen of England.”

Kara doesn’t know why she’s quietened all of a sudden, but she feels bad about shouting now. 

Lena looks at her, and Kara can feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up for some reason, “I need to do homework. I’ll see you later.” She stands suddenly, grabs her bag off the back of her chair and marches out of the room.

Kara’s mouth parts, not quite processing, and she falls backward onto her bed in shock. What a way to meet your roommate. 


	4. party animal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena meets her roommate, goes to a party and gets very drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!  
> this turned out to be a lot longer than i thought it would be, so sorry if it takes a while to get through. i guess this chapter marks the first big stepping stone in kara and lena's relationship! 
> 
> also, i intend to update every sunday and tuesday, or if i don't manage, on wednesday. no promises, though. 
> 
> enjoy!

Lena’s flicking through her Physics textbook, lying on her stomach with her legs kicking when someone barges into her dorm nearly taking the door off its hinges. 

It’s the new girl, and Lena can only blink and watch as she storms over to her bed and sits down, crossing her arms. She’s seething, and Lena can practically see the smoke blowing out of her ears as she takes deep, long breathes.

Lena looks to the door, to Kara, and to the door again. “Hey,” she begins, “you broke the door.”

Kara’s head shoots straight up, so fast Lena’s surprised it doesn’t come right off. “Luthor?”

Lena flinches, her gut automatically twisting. So that’s how the new girl sees her; just like everyone else does. She doesn’t even _try_ to learn what kind of person she is and she feels anger begin to bubble, so Lena shoots her a glare. “Yes.” 

Kara still doesn’t seem to be able to handle that she’s rooming with the one and only Lena Luthor, her mouth opening and closing like a fish and her eyes as wide as saucepans. “I—“ she starts, “you’re my roommate.”

Lena furrows her brow, “you didn’t know?”

“I didn’t see your face last night, just your silhouette.”

“Oh.” Lena considers this for a moment, and then quickly returns to her original point of anger. “My names not Luthor.”

Kara’s hand reaches up to readjust her glasses which had slipped almost completely off her nose, and then returns it into the crook of her arm. “But, Siobhan—“

“I’m Lena.”

“Lena Luthor?”

Lena clenches her jaw and closes her Physics book as she fixes Kara with another glare. “…Yes.”

Kara begins to smile and scrunch her nose, amused as she says, “Oh, hey, it’s two L’s.”

 _What?_ “I’m aware.” 

The conversation comes to an abrupt stop and Lena watches curiously as a far away look appears in Kara’s eyes, then looks down to her throat as it bobs. This seems to be like a good opportunity to point out the mess of strewn clothes, while Kara’s nervous. She casts her gaze across the bed. “You should really think about cleaning up your side of the room, it’s ugly.”

Kara huffs and tightens her crossed arms, almost indignantly. “I have the right to have an ugly side of the room! It is _my_ side of the room, after all.” Kara’s sudden flare of anger certainly seems like an overreaction and Lena bristles at her audacity to talk back to her. 

“I don’t care. Just keep it tidy or else I’ll scare you into transferring like I did my last roommate who displeased me.”

Kara straightens, seemingly insulted. “I’m not scared of you.”

It’s quite convincing, actually. Lena can’t identify any intimidated body language and Kara is keeping eye contact quite vehemently. Either way, without missing a beat Lena says, “You should be. I am a Luthor, after all.”

Kara suddenly lifts her hands up, exasperated, her glasses slipping a little again. “I don’t even know what that means!” _What?_ “I don’t care if you’re a Luthor or a Smith or an El—“

“An El?” _What kind of last name is that?_

“—It makes no difference to me. I don’t _care_ what your last name is. You could be the Queen of Ireland but—“ Lena sucks in a breath, barely processing. Kara doesn’t… _care_? Lena faintly notices that Kara hasn’t stopped talking, her mouth moving at a ridiculous rate and Lena just watches her, dumbfounded. Kara doesn’t care. Kara doesn’t _care_. 

“—She’s the only one who’s _actually_ in charge.” All of a sudden her hearing returns and Kara’s finished her speech, chest heaving, and Lena is still watching Kara with her mouth parted slightly. “Lena?” Kara calls. 

Her eyes drop to the floor, and she’s shocked that she can even speak. “There is no Queen of Ireland,” she says, barely audible, “But there’s a Queen of England.” 

It’s all she can think of to say. Ever since she became a Luthor, her value was based entirely on her last name and to think that someone she hasn’t even met before doesn’t care for it? For all the effort she put in to truly fit in? For her trust fund? Her power? She’s… angry, but also unimaginably relieved. 

Lena looks at her and knows she has to get out of this room. Standing suddenly, she blurts, “I need to do homework. I’ll see you later,” grabs her bag and runs out of the room. 

Finally Lena feels like she can breathe again, falling back against the door and titling her head up to look at the ceiling. She doesn’t know why she’s reacting like this, to something as simple as anonymity but she is, and she scolds herself for it. 

She stands there for a minute longer, taking deep breath after deep breath hoping it will calm her down, and it seems to work. Taking a final deep breath she balls her fist and starts walking down the corridor, deciding that she’s not in the state to do homework and that she’d much rather unwind with her friends. So, she makes her way to Veronica’s dorm room but stops short of the entrance when she can hear murmuring. She knows it’s wrong to eavesdrop, but she presses her ear against the door as hard as she can anyway, straining to hear their conversation. 

“…I mean, I _am_ the queen of this school…” Lena squints, she can’t make out all of the words, “kick Lena out… not that hard…”

“Yeah, but,” begins another voice, and she thinks it might be Leslie’s, “…why? She’s… “ _Damn Leslie’s quiet voice_ , Lena thinks, pushing her ear against the door harder. 

It’s Siobhan that responds to whatever Leslie said, “It doesn’t matter how rich… you don’t… with wealth…”

“Exactly.” This must be Veronica. “…Science obsession is lame… so clingy.” A pause, and laughter. “…like a stray pup—“

Lena twists the handle and walks in, smiles and says, “Hey, I was hoping I could just hang out here; my room is _ridiculously_ cold.” 

All three of them are looking at her like deers caught in headlights, and Lena raises an eyebrow and fixes a teasing grin on her face, “what, I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” 

“No!” is the immediate answer from Leslie and Siobhan, Veronica instead opting to coolly roll her eyes and pat the space on the bed next to her. Of course _she_ can maintain her composure. God, it makes Lena even angrier. 

“Come sit, Luthor. We were just discussing J’onnzz.” _Right._

Paying no mind to the hurt and betrayal she’s feeling, she plops herself down beside Veronica, toes her shoes off and crosses her legs. There’s an awkward tension hanging in the air that doesn’t seem to be dissipating anytime soon, so Lena takes mercy on them and says, cheerily, “so, what were you guys saying about J’onnzz?”

Siobhan looks like she’s been suddenly shaken awake, and she eagerly answers with “just that he’s _such_ a douche for giving me a detention.”

Lena raises her eyebrows. “Oh? I thought it was kind of fair. I mean, you didn’t even try with the homework and, given the type of school we go to…”

“Yeah, but—”

“But what?” Lena can feel herself getting angry again, so she begins to play with the hem of her skirt and breathes out through her mouth.

“But…” Siobhan looks at a loss, unable to comprehend that her friends aren’t agreeing with her. “But, I mean…”

“Whatever, Siobhan,” says Veronica, ignoring Siobhan’s affronted expression and continuing, “It isn’t even a big deal, you get detentions all the time.”

“Agreed,” supplies Leslie.

“Anyway, I snapped a picture of Kara and sent it to Mike because he _won’t_ stop asking about her, the creep. Says we should invite her to his party on Friday.”

“You took a picture of her without her knowledge and sent it to Mike?” Lena asks, hardly believing her ears.

“That’s literally what I just said,” she rolls her eyes, “I think it’ll be an excellent step forward in friendship.”

Lena blinks, “you’re still going on about that?”

“Of course. No Sinclair ever gives up on a plan.”

Lena looks to Leslie for help who looks just as uncomfortable, but she says nothing. “She doesn’t deserve that.” 

“Woah, why are you all protective of her all of a sudden?”

“I,” Lena stammers, self-doubt settling in her stomach, “I don’t know, maybe I’m just a decent human being.”

Veronica snorts, “Right, _Luthor_.”

Lena clamps her jaw shut and fists her hands into her skirt, unable to deliver a witty retort. It’s weird, just leaving Kara who doesn’t care about her name, and walking right into her friends talking about her behind her back who _do_ care, and can’t seem to see anything other than it. She chooses to give Veronica a playful eye roll, as if every time she calls her Luthor it doesn’t feel like a punch to the gut. 

“Well _I_ for one think it’s a great idea. She can let loose, get drunk, embarrass herself… the list is endless,” Siobhan says, keen to please.

“Ugh, finally someone is on the same wavelength. It’ll be the perfect welcoming gift, won’t it, Lena?”

Veronica looks her right in the eye, and Lena can’t do anything but nod.

* * *

Lena sits down with a full plate of vegan curry and prods a knife into a chicken looking shape, opting to move it to the side and start with her rice instead. Veronica and therefore Siobhan, are eating salads and Leslie is twirling her fork in her bolognese. 

The meals at this school are nothing to complain about but they’re nothing to praise, either.   

She’d much rather be sat with Lillian eating food from their personal chef, but then again, Lena thinks, _Lillian_. 

She looks up briefly from her plate, wondering how Kara’s doing since she so rudely left and catches sight of the back of her head, a tight ponytail atop it. And, almost as if Kara has a sixth sense she spins around before Lena can react and levels her with a steady gaze, one that Lena can’t really interpret. Is she angry? Sad? Guilty? But before Lena can come to a decision Kara turns back around again and doesn’t look at her for the rest of dinner.

* * *

 

Somehow, Kara is already in their room when Lena arrives, despite her having seen Kara go for seconds, twice, but she doesn’t comment. The air is thick with uncertainty, and Lena’s not going to be the one to break it.

She settles down in her bed, loosening her tie and pulling out her maths homework, the one Mrs. Postlethwaite had set if you had managed to complete the logarithms worksheet in the lesson, and begins. Out of her peripheral vision, she can see that Kara is working on her History homework which Mr. Jonnzz had set for her especially so that she could catch up a little and better understand what they were learning. Or at least, that was what she had overheard. 

They settle into a comfortable rhythm and the tension lifts quickly afterward. It’s only half an hour into the problems when she gets confused by one of the questions and she reads it over again, still perplexed. She can’t make any sense of it and she remembers seeing Kara completing the sheet during their maths lesson a few tables forward with ease, but she refuses to ask for help. It would be humiliating, receiving aid from the strange new girl, so she sits biting the end of her pen for 5 more minutes, sneaking looks at Kara every so often. 

She’s finished her History by the looks of it because she’s settled back into her bed and pulled her laptop onto her stomach, watching a tv show with her earphones plugged in. Lena itches to disturb her and ask for help, but she keeps silent for 5 more minutes until her patience has worn out. 

“Kara?” She asks delicately, biting her lip. When there’s no response, Lena calls her name louder this time. 

Kara blinks and turns to her, giving her a questioning tilt of her head. Lena gestures for her to remove her earphones and Kara does as she’s asked. 

“Um,” Lena begins, unsure as to how to proceed but she continues when she sees Kara give a supporting nod of her head. “I’m not quite sure how to solve this problem and I saw you finish the sheet in class so I—“

“Say no more!” And suddenly Kara is sat right next to her holding her pen and taking the sheet from her hands. 

“Oh, okay,” is all Lena can say, watching as Kara scribbles some notes down on the paper and, suddenly it _clicks_. Of course! How did she miss that?

“I mean, I’d totally understand how it’s confusing,” Kara says, nodding. “It was an optional question too, so, kudos.” She furrows her brow, looking at her. “It’s kudos, right? That’s the right word?”

“Yes, you’re right.” 

Kara looks relieved and she hands the pen and sheet back to Lena, smiling. “Is that it?”

“Yes, I think so. Thank you.”

A long, weighted look is shared between them until Kara smiles and hops back over to her bed and resumes her show. 

Lena is once again, dumbfounded by her. Intelligent beyond her years but completely lacking in social etiquette so she stares at the blonde, following the curve of her forehead with her eyes and the angle of her glasses sitting on her straight nose, still unable to fathom that she’s a human being. 

Kara’s apparent sixth sense makes her turn to Lena and give her an inquisitive look as she takes out an earphone. Lena feels her ears redden but she’s saved from further embarrassment when Kara sits up suddenly. 

“Oh Rao, I forgot!” Kara says, too quickly for Lena to ponder on what on earth a _Rao_ is, “I was going to say sorry for shouting at you earlier and making you leave.” She takes the other earphone out and closes the lid of her laptop. “I just—I had a tough day, and I know that’s no excuse! I overreacted and it was also really rude of me to say your last name doesn’t matter because I know that on earth it’s a big deal, so, I’m sorry.”

A brief silence follows where neither of them say anything, Lena because, well, her brain is still processing every word. “I…” she begins, slowly, “thank you, although not caring about my last name isn’t an issue at all. I appreciate you apologising to me and, I also understand. I have bad days too. I think everyone does.”

“Yeah,” Kara breathes, and a brilliant smile appears on her face, one that Lena can’t help but return with just as much gusto until Kara pulls out a massive bag of tangy sweets and takes a handful, offering it to her. 

Lena recoils at the mountain of sugar and gelatine, disgust evident in her expression. In turn, Kara retracts her hand and frowns. “You don’t want any?”

“No! Of course I don’t want any! You’ve just had dinner and you now your eating those? That’s revolting.”

Hurt colours Kara’s face and she angrily stuffs the proffered sweets into her mouth. “Yes, I am! I’m sorry that I have an exceedingly fast metabolism!” She shoves her earphones back in and opens up her laptop still frowning, and Lena lies down on her bed.

 _Great_ , she sighs, _back to square one_. 

* * *

 

It’s Friday, the day of Mikes party, and Lena has to admit she’s relieved because she really needs to unwind after the week she’s had. Two tests, three essays and worst of all, Kara still hates her. Admittedly, she hadn’t apologised even if she should have because every time she was about to, Kara would frown at her and do her homework or push her earphones in or go to shower. The silent treatment would only make Lena more frustrated and she’d forget what she was even about to do, and give her the silent treatment back. 

Very immature, she knows. Hopefully tonight will finally give her the liquid courage to apologise to Kara, if she even attends. 

Veronica and her are currently standing at Kara and Lucy’s table, asking them to come, but neither of them seem particularly enthusiastic. Kara is avoiding her gaze and poking at her pasta, and Lucy is glaring up at Veronica with her eyebrow raised in defiance. 

“Look, I’ve been to one of Mike’s parties before. It really wasn’t that exciting.”

Lena can see that Veronica’s patience is wearing thin, so she responds instead of her. “This time will be different. New people are being invited, it won’t be the usual douche-y crowd. Plus, you can leave whenever you want.”

“And we’ve come up with an escape and reentrance plan so you and Kara will be fine. There are literally no cons to coming with us,” Veronica adds. 

“No cons? How about alcohol poisoning? Or, what if your plan doesn’t work and we all get suspended?”

Veronica scoffs, “a Luthor, a Lane and a Sinclair? Ms. Grant couldn’t even touch us if she wanted to.”

“I very much doubt that,” Kara finally says as she purses her lips at Veronica. “She’s more stubborn and intelligent than you think.”

“Whatever,” Veronica rolls her eyes, like she does at every inconvenience, “The reward is greater than the risk. Your first ever party at this school will be incredible if you come with us, and besides, there’s a boy who wants to meet you,” she winks, and Lena feels her stomach twist with worry. Mike isn’t really first boyfriend material. 

It’s Lucy who finally gives in with a rigid “fine”, pushing Kara to acquiesce as well. Veronica tells them to meet at her dorm room at 8, where their plan will commence, and they quickly return to their own table. 

* * *

The plan goes off without a hitch, and by half 8 they’re outside Mike’s house, shivering in the cold. _We should have brought jackets_ , Lena thinks as she looks at her group, and then stops at Kara when she realises she isn’t shivering at all despite being in a cheap dress and borrowed heels. She’s about to comment when she remembers again they have an unspoken agreement not to talk. 

Frustrated again, she pulls Veronica by the wrist into the house and the rest of the group follows behind them. 

The party is already very much underway and Lena snags the first solo cup she can find, chugging the strange conglomeration of alcohol. It’s strong, is all Lena can identify. 

Out of the corner of her eye she can see Veronica supplying Kara with a drink in an effort to make her embarrass herself, but there’s something oddly confident about her when she takes a swig, from her stance to her smirk and the look she gives Veronica after she finishes it. 

Lena suddenly feels very competitive, so she fills her cup up from the fruit punch hidden away in the corner which tastes more vodka than fruit and takes a few sips of it, wincing when it burns down her throat. 

“I don’t understand!” She hears Veronica cry behind her, and Lena turns to see her handing Kara another shot, which she downs with ease. “How are you not drunk yet?”

Kara laughs and pushes her glasses up, not providing an answer. 

Lena narrows her eyes and glares as she takes a longer sip of her drink this time. Already she can feel herself swaying on the spot a little bit, and her chest feels warm. 

It’s maybe 11, or 12 shots later when Veronica finally gives up and Kara gives a boisterous laugh, her nose scrunching up in the way it does, that Lena decides her feet hurt and she’s going to the couch in the living room. She plonks down and puts her feet on the coffee table giving a mental _Hah! Fuck you and your rules, Lillian!_ as she does so, sipping at her topped up drink. Soon, she feels someone sit down next to her, the sofa sinking from their weight and Lena turns her head to muster the most evilest glare she can except—Oh, it’s Kara. 

Kara’s biting her lip and trying not to laugh it seems, and Lena takes another sip of her drink because she never really noticed how blue her eyes were. She supposes they’ve never sat this close before either, thighs grazing. 

Lena looks down at their legs and takes a few more sips before saying, “why do you hate me?”

When there’s no answer she looks up at Kara again to find a look of shock, mouth opening and closing. “I don’t hate you,” is what comes out, completely un-slurred and sober. 

“But you don’t talk to me?”

Kara’s face falls and Lena wishes she didn’t say what she said. “I’m sorry, it’s just—“ she sighs and takes the cup from her hand, downing it in one go and then returning it, “I’ve never really… been taught how to deal with my anger properly? I have, um, a lot of it, and they’ve always told me to just push it down, but recently it won’t… _stay_. I don’t know why. And, the comment you made about what I was eating and _how_ much I was eating is, I guess, um, it makes me insecure?”

Lena furrows her brow, “who’s ‘they’?”

Kara blinks, “Oh, my parents. My—adoptive parents. The Danvers. Oh, gosh! I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, I’m not even drunk!”

“You’re right!’ Lena slurs, “you’re not drunk! How!”

“That’s… not important?”

“Oh, it’s not?” Lena nods, accepting, when she suddenly remembers the last bit of what Kara said and frowns, “you’re insecure about how much you eat?”

Kara turns red, then. It’s funny, but she holds in her laugh because they’re having a serious conversation about serious things. “Um, yeah, but not enough to actually stop me from eating that much. I know it’s not normal to have like 8 human meals a day but I process food a lot faster than you guys do, um, than most people do I mean. I just, I hate how I don’t fit in and how I’ll never fit in, even in that aspect. I guess I get quite self-conscious about it.”

Lena thinks she half understands what she’s saying, only focusing on the weird words like ‘human meals’ and ‘you guys’ for a few seconds. “Yeah, I get you. My family—oh, hey! I’m adopted too did you know? When I was four. Anyway, I wanted to be a Luthor so, _so_ much! So much! But my mother always isolated me, showed that I was, or would ever be nothing like them. I get you. The not fitting in part. Not the… human meals part.”

They sit there for a while, for how long Lena doesn’t know, stewing on what the other had said. It’s weird, how alike they are, despite being strangers. 

“So you don’t hate me?” Lena finally asks, and sighs in relief when Kara shakes her head. “Good. I don’t hate you either.”

All of a sudden, there’s a ruckus in the kitchen and a boy comes barreling through the door holding two cups, one spilling onto his shirt. _Mike_ , Lena thinks, and she frowns at him. 

He’s approaching them, she realises with horror, and looks at Kara about to warn her when Mike says, “Kara! I have heard _all_ about you!”

“Oh, are you the—“

“So you’ve heard of me too! Great!” He’s very drunk and he hands her the half empty cup, almost spilling it over her dress. “Here, a human drink. I mean, a drink. Yes.”

Kara freezes and Lena can feel her thigh tensing against her own. Cautiously, she brings the cup to her mouth and takes a sniff, before taking a sip. “Can I, um, try your drink? It smells nice.”

“No! It might, hurt you—“

“ _Trust_ me, it won’t—“

“No, I mean, it’s not meant for you guys, it’s…” he drops to a conspiratory whisper, “ _foreign._ Stronger than a human drink. I mean, a normal drink.”

“I don’t understand,” Kara says, and Lena can feel her pulse thrumming through her leg. “Are you—?”

“Wait, are _you—?”_

“Oh my God,” Lena clutches her head, “you’re confusing me. Please stop talking. Mike, go away.”

“No no, Mike I’ll come with you, I, um, I have some questions?”

“No, yeah. Me too. If, you’re thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I mean… I _think_ you’re thinking what I’m thinking…”

“Right… so…”

“Maybe we should talk in private… if we’re thinking… the same thing. We are thinking the same thing, right?” Lena can feel Kara breathing very quickly beside her, the lift of her shoulders is pushing her side to side until suddenly Kara’s gone, disappearing upstairs with Mike. 

Lena’s shoulders sag, and she heads to the kitchen for another drink. 

* * *

“Seven minutes in heaven!” Someone is shouting, and Lena feels her feet gravitating towards the voice as well as several others. She’d been spectating a very uninteresting game of beer pong and decided that a bottle game would be infinitely more fun. 

Kara and Mike are there as well and they’re _laughing_ and _smiling_ and it’s _gross_. They’re looking at each other like—and Lena can’t quite put her finger on it—like, like, like… they know each other from a past life, or whatever. Reincarnation! That’s a thing.  

She spots Veronica and sits herself down next to her, shoulder knocking against hers because she’s not quite sure how to walk properly anymore. There’s one person sat between her and Kara—Oh, Lucy. 

She regains her train of thought and wonders briefly if both Mike and Kara are buddhists until Siobhan is spinning a bottle and it’s landing on Lucy, and then another guy, Jeremy? No, wait. James? Either way, they wander off and return after seven minutes, James with a light blush on his cheeks and Lucy’s lipstick a little smudged. Kara reaches over and swipes under her lip, and they share a cute exchange that, for some reason Lena wishes she were a part of. 

Then the bottle lands on Kara, and it’s spinning, spinning, spinning until— _Oh my God, is it landing on me?_ —it’s moving past Lena onto Mike. There’s a snicker from the left of her, Veronica, and Mike is receiving a lot of pats on the back, and _then_ they’re standing up and they’ve vanished. 

Mike doesn’t talk about girls very nicely, and his personality has never been much better either, so she really hopes that Kara doesn’t kiss him, or hug him, or even _touch_ him. He smells kind of gross, too. She wonders if he ever showers. 

The seven minutes are pure torture. Lena’s never understood the point of seven minutes in heaven because everyone except the chosen two just have to sit around and wait for them to return, which means it’s kind of boring. Veronica has been toying with her fingers for the past minute or so, which makes it less boring, admittedly. 

 _Finally_ , they’re back and Lena scrutinises every inch of Kara’s appearance, paying special attention to her lips. They’re very nice and plump, Lena remarks absentmindedly before she returns to her task: the lipstick isn’t smudged at all, and—she turns to Mike—his hair is untouched. 

It’s not enough to be certain, but it eases Lena’s nerves a little bit. 

Next it’s Siobhan and a rather small boy called Winn, and then it’s Veronica and Leslie, and _then_ it’s Lena and Kara. 

It takes quite a few seconds for it to register, and longer still for her to regain motor function. Luckily however, Kara is pulling her up by the hand and guiding her to the closet down the hall, closing the door behind them and switching the light on. 

Kara smiles at her, still not having let go of her hand, and pulls her down to sit on the floor. That’s when she lets go. 

“I must admit,” Kara says, laughing a little, “I really don’t understand the point of this game. Standing in a closet for seven minutes? It’s weird.”

“I agree. It’s also boring.”

“Mon—Mike and I were both really confused. We went through all the coats looking for clues but there was nothing. I thought it was a bit like that other game, uh, what’s it called—?”

“Spin the bottle?”

“No, hide and seek.”

Lena snorts. “Not really.”

“Maybe I’ll google it when we get back. I don’t really understand any of the games being played tonight, there was one called ‘Beer Pong’, but they didn’t even use the bats.”

 _Bats?_ “Why would they use bats? They’d be awake right now.”

“What?”

“ _What?_ ”

“I mean the Ping Pong bats.”

“Ohh,” Lena nods sagely, “I meant the animal bats.”

Kara laughs out loud, her head touching her knees and Lena joins her even though she doesn’t know why. 

“You know,” Kara starts after calming down. Lena looks at her mouth, always finding the way she says words to be captivating. “You’re funny when you’re drunk.”

Lena scoffs and flips her hair, “I’m _always_ funny. I’m offended that you think otherwise,”

“Well, now I know,” Kara smiles again. “Is this the purpose of Seven minutes in heaven? Bonding?”

“Something like that.” Lena laughs softly. “You don’t know a lot, huh.”

“I know plenty!” Her mouth is moving a lot again and Lena’s mesmerised, “I know logarithms, and trigonometry, and I’ve been to twelve different planets, so!”

“What? Planets?”

“Um—Haha! That was a joke. Ha, ha.”

Lena frowns. “Okay. It wasn’t very funny.”

“I know, I don’t really get jokes.”

There’s a lull in the conversation, and they just knock each other’s knees against each others for a while, not talking. It’s a comfortable silence, Lena thinks, and she looks at Kara again to find she’s already looking back, intently. 

“What?” Lena asks. 

“Sometimes, you can be really nice, but other times you can be really mean.”

Lena feels her heart drop, “I know.”

“Why?”

Lena thinks about this, for a long time. “Because I wanted to be, to fit in. And now I can’t really get rid of it. Like, you can’t get rid of your glasses? Or you can’t not be weird?”

Shit. She said the wrong thing.

Kara looks at her, her brow furrowed and her lips pursed into a thin line. “I know I’m weird, but you don’t have to tell me.” Kara’s stopped knocking their knees together. “ _That_ was mean.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like—“

“Times up!” Someone calls, and Kara stands, offering to pull Lena up. She takes the hand and very effortlessly, she’s suddenly standing. It was almost like she was flying, for a second, and she wonders how often Kara must work out. 

They return to the circle and everyone looks very bored, except for Veronica of course, and before long the game has ended and everyone either returns to the kitchen or living room, or goes upstairs to the toilet to vomit. Lena considers the latter for a second, but realises she’s okay and goes to sit on the same sofa, again. It’s very comfortable. 

So comfortable in fact, that she falls asleep. 

* * *

She’s being jostled a little, and she blinks her eyes open very slowly to see a flash of blonde hair and glasses before she’s lifted up entirely. She can feel hands under the crook of her knees and under her back, and, _bridle carried_ is all Lena can think before she falls asleep again with her head against the person’s neck. 

* * *

Lena groans and turns onto her side, her eyes cracking open, stinging against the bright morning light streaming through the window. Which is strange, because the sofa she’s on shouldn’t have a window nearby, and—even stranger is that she’s not even on a sofa, she’s in a bed. 

She opens her eyes wider and looks around, and _God_ her eyes kill with the familiar feeling of overnight contact lenses. She reaches up and pushes a finger into her eye, then uses her thumb to take the lens out before doing the same with the other eye and throwing them both onto her night stand where she reaches for her glasses and brings them to her face. 

Finally, she can actually see and she blinks to adjust to her surroundings. There, on her stand is a glass of water and aspirin, and there, on the opposite bed sits Kara, cross-legged with her hair in a messy bun and a book sat in her lap.


	5. tentative acquaintance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara goes to a party, has brunch with Lucy and Kal visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! pretty late on a wednesday, but a wednesday it is. i think that tuesday is just not gonna work for me, so sundays and wednesdays for new updates from now on! 
> 
> a lot of this chapter is admittedly overlap (sorry!) but then we have some cool friendship Lucy and Kara bonding and some more emotional stuff. it's very long and i don't know how this keeps happening to me, but it does! hopefully that's not a problem!
> 
> i think this chapter is also a bit messy bc i rushed to get this out in time so sorry for any typos or sentences that don't make sense! 
> 
> nevertheless, enjoy!

Kara’s lost count of how many shots she’s downed like water until Veronica finally gives up and wanders away with a dumbfounded look on her face. Kara feels awfully giddy all of a sudden with the knowledge that she managed to best Veronica Sinclair, and laughs until she sees Lena stumble towards the living room with a sloshing cup in her hand. 

Kara decides she’s going to follow her all of a sudden having just experienced a strong confidence boost, and sinks down next to Lena who gives her a glare before going slack jawed when she sees who it is. 

She bites her lip to avoid laughing because Lena’s eyes are awfully unfocused and it’s only been what, 30 minutes since they arrived? The night has barely even begun! 

Lena looks away from her and down at their legs, and only then does she realise that their thighs have been touching. Lena’s wearing a particularly short dress that has risen up since sitting down and Kara debates moving further away until Lena puts her cup down and asks, “why do you hate me?”

It catches Kara completely off guard, so much so that her mouth is gaping. When had she ever implied to Lena that she hates her? And then, she thinks back to the week and recalls the silent treatment she’d given her. _Oh._ “I don’t hate you.”

Lena’s brow furrow like she doesn’t understand, “but you don’t talk to me?”

 _Shoot_. Kara looks down at her lap and begins toying with her fingers, wondering how she’ll explain it to her, how she’ll explain her fear of her own anger, fear of what she’s capable of, fear of what she could do to Lena if she engages in an argument. Instead, she settles on, “I’m sorry, it’s just—“ she sighs and takes the cup from the table, downing it in one go and then returning it even though she knows it’ll have no effect, “I’ve never really… been taught how to deal with my anger properly? I have, um, a lot of it, and they’ve always told me to just push it down, but recently it won’t…stay. I don’t know why. And, the comment you made about what I was eating and how much I was eating is, I guess, um, it makes me insecure?” Kara bites her lip to stop herself from spilling anymore. 

“Who’s they?”

It’s not really what Kara expected Lena to ask so she takes a moment to answer. “Oh, my parents. My—adoptive parents. The Danvers. Oh, gosh! I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this, I’m not even drunk!”

“You’re right!” slurs Lena, “you’re not drunk! How!”

 _Shoot!_ Kara racks her brain and wonders just how susceptible Lena’s brain is to suggestion and gives her a rather unconvincing, “that’s…not important?”

Kara holds her breath as she waits for Lena to call her out on her lies until she simply nods her head and says, “Oh, it’s not?” Kara releases her breath and watches as Lena’s features morph from accepting to troubled. “You’re insecure about how much you eat?”

She can feel her face turning red, remembering her admission. “Um, yeah, but not enough to actually stop me from eating that much. I know it’s not normal to have like 8 human meals a day but I process food a lot faster than you guys do, um, than most people do I mean. I just, I hate how I don’t fit in and how I’ll never fit in, even in that aspect. I guess I get quite self-conscious about it,” and then she panics because, o _h, gosh, human meals? You guys? I might as well have told her I’m an alien!_

Lena pauses and Kara thinks she’s done for until Lena just says, “Yeah, I get you.” Kara thanks Rao for the effects of alcohol. “My family—oh hey! I’m adopted too did you know? When I was four. Anyway, I wanted to be a Luthor so, so much! So much! But my mother always isolated me, showed that I was, or would always be nothing like them. I get you. The not fitting in part. Not the… human meals part.”

Kara mulls over what Lena had said,  realising suddenly that they’re so _similar_ , despite being born on entirely different planets. It’s a few more minutes until anyone says anything and Kara has debated going up to get a snack when Lena finally asks, “So you don’t hate me?” To which Kara shakes her head and Lena sighs in relief. “Good. I don’t hate you either.”

Kara begins to smile when she hears shouting coming from the kitchen, and her hands itch to cover her ears. Their quiet conversation had been easy to tune into since the speakers where outside and in the other living room, but the sudden wave of noise had caught Kara off guard. 

She hears uneven footsteps behind her and someone that reeks of a strange type of alcohol, and suddenly said person is there, shouting, “Kara! I have heard _all_ about you!”

“Oh, are you the—“

“So you’ve heard of me too! Great!” He stumbles as he inches closer to them, moving carelessly as he hands her a half-empty cup of fruit punch and vodka. She can see that the other half was dumped onto his shirt. “Here,” he begins and Kara looks up at him, “a human drink. I mean, a drink. Yes.”

A human drink? Kara tenses and she stares at Mike, wondering if—perhaps—? But she doesn’t finish her thought, too unwilling to cling to the hope that had sparked in her chest, and brings the cup to her mouth and sniffs at it, before taking a tentative sip. It’s your average human drink, but the other cup that Mike’s holding doesn’t have the same aroma. It smells… stronger. 

“Can I, um, try your drink? It smells nice.”

“No!” Mike exclaims, pulling the cup closer to his chest, “it might, hurt you—“

Kara almost scoffs, “ _Trust_ me, it won’t—“

“No, I mean, it’s not meant for you guys, it’s…” he drops to a whisper and Kara would lean in, if not for her super hearing and not wanting his breath any closer to her, “ _foreign._ ” Foreign? What does that mean? Like, from another country? Or—and she takes a breath when she thinks this—another planet? Mike continues, not paying mind to her confusion, “Stronger than a human drink. I mean, a normal drink.”

“I don’t understand,” and Kara is so, _so_ desperate to understand. She has no way of knowing if he’s really just drunk out of his mind, or maybe, just like her. “Are you—?”

Mike pauses, his eyes bulging, “Wait, are _you_ —?”

“Oh my God,” Lena clutches her head and Kara wishes she could ease her pain somehow, “you’re confusing me. Please stop talking. Mike, go away.”

Kara straightens and reaches out to stop him from leaving, almost desperately, “No no, Mike I’ll come with you. I, um, I have some questions?”

“No, yeah. Me too. If, you’re thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I mean… I _think_ you’re thinking what I’m thinking…” Kara squints her eyes. 

“Right… so…”

“Maybe we should talk in private… if we’re thinking… the same thing. We are thinking the same thing, right?” Kara’s breathing quickens in anticipation; she knows it’s naive to hope but… what _if_?

She debates hugging Lena goodbye but decides she won’t and instead smiles at her on her way upstairs even if it doesn’t seem like she even noticed. 

They decide to go into Mike’s bedroom which, initially Kara is wary about but Mike reassures her that he really does just want to talk. So, she inches in and makes a beeline towards his desk chair deciding she’d really like to avoid the bed. She hears Mike laugh at her under his breath and then plonk himself onto his bed, facing her. 

A tense silence, and then, “So… I mean, if, say, my drink was poisonous to humans, would you be able to drink it and survive?”

It’s a painful attempt at subtlety and Kara almost cringes, because what if she _was_ human? What would she think? Instead of voicing her concerns however, she lets herself feel the relief and utter happiness because it means that, he too, is an alien. She’s not alone. She releases a shaky breath and looks him in the eye and whispers, “yes.”

A huge grin spreads across Mike’s face, and Kara mirrors it. “That’s—that’s incredible! I never thought I’d find another one, and a humanoid at that!”

Kara feels herself flood with joy, blossoming in her chest and putting a smile on her face. She can scarcely believe it, her hands are shaking and she can hardly breathe. That hope, her naivety: not so bad after all. She knows this must be Rao’s doing, somehow, and she promises herself she will thank him in a prayer when she next can. “I knew of other aliens, but—"

“Other aliens? Who? Where?”

Kara bites her lip at the interruption but allows it, continuing, “I can’t say for his own safety, but um, yeah. I didn’t think there’d be any my age! Or, even halfway across Earth from where I landed.” She’s still breathless, and Mike is too, she can see tears rimming his eyes. She’s so happy she feels like she might explode. 

“Me too—my planet, my family, I had to leave and come here. I was,” here, he pauses, and Kara can hear his pulse quicken but she chalks it up to excitement, or maybe sorrow. “I was a, um, lowly servant and someone sacrificed their life so I could live.” Kara doesn’t ask about who, or where he comes from because she knows he probably isn’t ready to talk about it out loud, yet. Kara knows that _she’s_ not ready to talk about it fully yet either. 

“That’s… terrible, but also so fortunate?” is all Kara can say, because it’s what happened to her, too. Her mother or father could be alive right now but instead, they chose _her_. 

A silence swallows the room as they both pay their respects to their dead planets, and it’s a while (3 minutes, to be precise Kara notes with a glance at her watch) until Mike breaks it, “Sometimes…” he begins, his voice cracking, “I wish I didn’t get on that ship. I don’t know who else survived, but—“

“You don’t have to say anything. I understand.” She swallows, “you’ve voiced every doubt, every nightmare I’ve had about not being worthy of surviving, but you can’t change the past. We have to continue living for _them_.” Kara doesn’t believe a word of it. She’s reciting what Eliza had said to her on nights when she found it hard to sleep, too afraid of the darkness that slumber would bring, too afraid of seeing the darkness of the phantom zone once again. It had made her feel a little better and that was enough, but it never lasted. At least, she thinks, looking up at Mike, that it seems to be working on him, too. 

“Thank you, um. I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s fine,” and Kara gives him a bittersweet smile. 

“I’m Mon-el.” He sticks out his hand wipes away a solitary tear with the other, and Kara sticks out hers as well. She doesn’t linger on his name; she knows overlap must occur across the billions and billions of other planets that must exist, and shakes his hand.

“I’m Kara. I—have the same name as my birth one.”

“That’s lucky. I had to change mine because, well, yeah. Mon-el isn’t exactly your average name.”

“Yeah.”

She drops his hand and wipes it subtly on her skirt; it had been awfully sticky. 

“Seven minutes in heaven!” Kara and Mon-el’s heads whip towards the source of the sound, downstairs, and he is the one to suggest going which Kara quickly agrees to. She had soon realised how little they had in common other than being aliens, which was… a little sad. Nevertheless, she fixes Mon-el a bright smile and follows him downstairs to one of the many living rooms where they sit cross-legged beside each other. 

“So, what was that drink you had?” Kara asks, as more people trickle in. 

“Oh, I think I got it off this dude at the shop a few streets down. He had gills on his neck, which was _super_ weird and it was literally like he smelled the,” he drops to a whisper, “non-humanness of me.”

“Woah! Wait—how were you allowed to buy it?”

Mon-el shrugs, and Kara laughs. 

Gosh, she just feels giddy with excitement. Their earlier reminiscence of their past lives had been sad, but she’d quickly regained her happiness and disbelief. Another alien! She can still hardly believe it!

She perks up when she sees Siobhan stumble to the middle of the now formed circle and put an empty bottle down and spin it. It lands on Lucy and James, and then Kara and Mon-el, and they grin at each other. She’s really not quite sure what’s meant to happen and Mon-el looks just as confused as he’s getting patted on the back. 

They make their way to the closet and it’s dark and Kara flicks the light on and they stand there for what feels like a century, both utterly perplexed by the purpose of this game. 

“Should we like, look around? Find clues?”

It sounds silly but Kara nods and they spend the next seven minutes scouring through the coats for a hint as to what on earth they’re meant to do. 

They quickly make their way back to the circle and she can immediately feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up again, which she’d recently come to realise was Lena, looking at her. She didn’t really mind, now that she’d gotten used to it, but it was still a little unnerving that she could _feel_ Lena’s eyes on her. She decides not to look Lena’s way and pays attention to the game instead, watching in boredom as Siobhan and a short boy get chosen, and then Veronica and that blonde girl she’d never learned the name of, and finally Kara and Lena. 

Oh! She knows Lena, so she gives her a bright smile and drags her up by the wrist to the closet when Lena doesn’t react at all, save for the picking up of her heartbeat. How odd. 

They talk, sitting against the wall, about Mike and the purpose of this game and then _bats_ and then Kara slips up and then they talk about Lena’s personality and then, times up. She feels a little annoyed at Lena calling her weird but she knows she didn’t mean it that way and besides, she’s wanting to stop being so sensitive so she pulls Lena up by the hand effortlessly and returns to the circle. 

The game is soon over because everyone collectively realises how _boring_ the game is, and she sees Lena wander away into the living room they’d been in before. She’s about to follow when Lucy grabs her hand and drags her away to the kitchen, handing her a cup and introducing her to James and that short boy who’d been chosen with Siobhan, Winn. 

She’s smiling all throughout the conversation because these boys are lovely and funny, and James in particular is very pretty. Too bad Lucy has staked her claim on him, guessing from the way she leans into him when he wraps his arm around her. It’s cute. They suit each other, and Kara won’t get in the way of it, whatever it is. 

* * *

Kara glances at her watch; it’s already almost 1 am and by now Lucy, James and Winn are quite drunk and Kara’s been pretending to slur her words for the past half hour. 

“Mmm, I’m super sleepy,” Lucy says and she grabs Kara’s hand and begins swinging it back and forth. “I want to go to bed, even if it’s pretty early. My head is already beginning to hurt.”

Kara squeezes her hand back, “of course! Whatever you need. Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, that’s fine. I think James offered to take me anyway, and he’s really nice. His smile is _gorgeous_.”

Kara nods her agreement and gently takes the cup that is precariously dangling between Lucy’s fingertips, putting it on the counter. “Do you trust him? Are you _sure_ you don’t want me to come with you?”

“Yeah, I trust him. I’ve known him for ages anyway, so. I’ll text you when I get back!” Lucy smears a wet, sloppy kiss to Kara’s cheek and gives her a final goodbye, which Kara returns before giving her hand another squeeze. 

She waves to James and then she’s left with Winn, who’s eyes are already half closed. She nudges him on the shoulder, careful not to bruise and says, “Winn?”

“Hmm?” He blinks awake and gives Kara an unfocused look. “I’m good. I’m fine. Just, a bit tired, and my stomach hurts as well. I don’t… feel too great.”

“Oh, I’ll take that then,” she confiscates his drink and guides him towards the stairs and then the bathroom. It’s empty, but it smells a little of vomit and Kara scrunches her nose up. Winn seems unaffected, however. “Do you feel sick, Winn?”

“Mmm, a little bit.” He falls to the floor and puts his cheek on the toilet seat. She feels sorry for his knees. 

“Okay, I’m going to get a glass of water from the kitchen. Stay here, will you?”

She gets a grunt in response which she takes as an affirmative so she starts making her way downstairs, when she hears it.

“Ugh, Luthor’s already fucking asleep. What a lightweight,” slurs Veronica and Kara can hear her feet stumble on the carpet. 

“Larry’s shift is almost over, we should get going,” someone suggests, and Kara can’t detect a hint of inebriation in her voice. “Who’s carrying Lena?”

“Not fucking me,” says Siobhan. 

Kara creeps down the stairs a little more until she can see the friends standing around Lena, asleep on the sofa. _How_ she can be asleep when the music is still playing and people are still jumping around, Kara doesn’t know. 

“We should just leave her,” Veronica says and Kara feels herself go rigid. _They’d really do that to her?_

“She can find her own way back,” agrees Siobhan, as she pulls Veronica by the wrist towards the exit. The blonde is still standing beside Lena, head whipping between Veronica and Lena, unsure what to do. Finally, she bites her lip, mutters a quick goodbye to Lena and follows after Veronica and Siobhan. Kara feels herself begin to bubble with anger. 

She’s pouring a glass of water in the kitchen and handing it to Winn in a flash, and then making her way over to Lena who’s drooling onto a pillow, a little. Kara doesn’t have the heart to find it gross, and instead wipes it away with the back of her hand, hooks her arms underneath Lena’s back and knees, and lifts her up. She’s as light as a feather. 

Lena’s heartbeat flutters and so do her eyelids and Kara fears she’s awoken, only for her to close her eyes again and tuck her head into Kara’s neck. She flushes a deep scarlet and begins moving towards the exit, paying mind not to hit Lena’s head on any doorways. 

It’s a quick journey back to the gates of their school, Larry nodding her way and offering a quick comment about wondering why Lena wasn’t with her usual gang, and lets her through the gates. He’s not all that bad, she realises now. 

* * *

Kara carefully lays Lena down onto her bed and begins searching through Lena’s drawers for her pyjamas. She finally finds a clean set and takes a moment to revel in how utterly _soft_ the silk is, as she runs her hands over the material. It must feel like Lena’s on a cloud when she’s asleep, and she makes a mental note to ask Eliza for a pair on her winter break. 

She screws her eyes shut when she goes to take Lena’s dress off, rolling her over and unzipping the back, as well as taking her heels off. 

Her eyes remain closed until she’s managed to put the pyjamas on her, and only opens them to assess how she’s done and accurately do the buttons up. A little scruffy, but it’ll do. She works her way through buttoning her top up as quickly as she can, lifts Lena up one handed, peels the sheets back and tucks her in. Somehow, she’s managed to stay asleep for all of that, and Kara sends a mental prayer up to Rao, because it’d be awfully awkward if Lena had awoken to see her pulling her silk pyjamas up to her waist with her eyes tightly shut. 

Letting out a sigh of relief, she gets out of her dress, puts Lucy’s heels to the side and throws on her sushi pyjamas. She checks her phone for a message from Lucy which she had received, texts back a wide variety of positive emojis and tucks herself in to bed. _Phew._ She’s _exhausted._

* * *

It’s Saturday! Kara’s first weekend in Ireland, she’s met another alien and she’s giddy. She throws the covers off, sings good morning to Lena and is about to grab her shower supplies when she notices that Lena is still deep asleep and probably developing a headache right this instant. 

 _Hmm_ … Kara squints as she tries to remember what the procedure is for humans with hangovers. _Oh! Water and aspirin!_

It’s a quick trip down to Lucy’s dorm to drop off her heels and take some painkillers, and then the cafeteria is about a three minute human-speed walk where she borrows a glass and fills it up at the water fountain on her way back up. Thankfully, Lena is still asleep when she returns and she places the two pills as well as the glass on her night stand. 

It’s already half nine, Kara notes, but everyone is still asleep. Is this the usual routine for Saturdays? Sleep through the entirety of it? 

Well, if that’s the case then Kara will have to entertain herself. She rummages through her drawer until she’s found a book that looks interesting enough, sits down on her bed, ties her hair up and starts reading. 

* * *

It’s around 11 o’clock when Lena finally wakes up, groggy and disoriented, and Kara’s almost 2 thirds through her book. 

Lena groans, reaching for her glass of water and taking two big gulps, before grabbing the aspirin and quickly downing them, following it up with the rest of the water. Kara hides her grin and continues reading her book while Lena proceeds to lie in bed for the next 5 minutes with her eyes screwed shut. 

Finally, Lena swings herself out of bed and stands up, only taking a second or two to ground herself and patting down her pyjama clad body, confused. Kara grins again. A confused Lena is always a funny one. 

“I don’t… how did I get here?” Lena croaks. 

“I carried you.”

“You carried me?”

“Um, yes. You’re very light.”

Lena pauses, her brow furrowing. “But… I don’t understand.”

Kara smiles, “that’s okay. Um, sorry about changing you into your pyjamas but your dress just looked so uncomfortable and I _promise_ I had my eyes shut the whole time—“

“No that’s, um, okay. Thank you. I think… did I fall asleep at Mike’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Kara makes a popping sound with her mouth and returns to her book, and Lena decides to take a shower. 

Kara’s phone pings and she puts her book down, making sure to dog ear the page as she does so. It’s a text from Lucy!

_lucy <3 at 11:06 : kara! wanna hang out today?_

Kara can’t help the grin that spreads across her face. 

_kara at 11:06 : omg sure !!!!! what time is good 4 you_

_lucy <3 at 11:07 : anytime honestly! do you still think there’s time for brunch?_

_kara at 11:07 : brunch???????_

_lucy <3 at 11:07 : a mix of lunch and breakfast silly _

_kara at 11:07 : oh gosh !!!!! that sounds amazing !!!! twice the amount of food !!!!!!!!!_

_lucy <3 at 11:08 : HAHAha not really babe its more just for lazy ppl who don't get up for breakfast early enough i.e me_

_lucy <3 at 11:08 : but you can have All the Food You Want_

_kara at 11:08 : :’) thank u_

_kara at 11.08 : we can go in like 10 minutes if you want !! i’ll be ready by then_

_kara at 11:08 : um !!!!! unless u’re still super sleepy!!!!!!!!!! then thats fine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_lucy <3 at 11:09 : kara i love you but please stop shouting through text its hurting my head xxxx_

Kara’s fingertips still against the screen as she rereads the message. An impossibly large smile breaks out at at the ‘i love you’, and she doesn’t even look up when Lena shuffles in. 

“Wow, who on earth are you texting to make you smile that big?” Kara’s head shoots up and her face turns red, but the smile is still at large. 

“Lucy! Duh!”

Lena’s face drops, then turns to confusion, then turns to indifference. “Oh. Okay.”

Her phone pings again and she stops trying to decipher Lena’s expression. 

_lucy <3 at 11:11 : kara ????? where’d u go_

_kara at 11:11 : sorry !!!!! lena came back from her shower !!!!_

_kara at 11:11 : (also sorry i forgot abt your no shout request) (this is a whisper (!))_

_lucy <3 at 11:12 : im crying why are you so cute_

_lucy <3 at 11:12 : anyway how does half 11 sound _

_lucy <3 at 11:12 : wait thats in like 15 minutes_

_lucy <3 at 11:12 : how about like quarter to 12_

_kara at 11:12 : that sounds great !!!!!!!!!!!_

_kara at 11:12 : oh no (!) sorry i shouted again (!)_

_lucy <3 at 11:13 : omg you don’t even need to apologise anymore im properly awake now _

_lucy <3 at 11:13 : okay im gonna get changed see u in a bit xxxxxxx_

_kara at 11:13 : bye !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <33333_

Kara puts her phone down and stretches before moving to her wardrobe and rifling through her selection of clothes. She hadn’t brought much due to the school uniform, but hopefully it would be enough to last the rest of the year. 

She settles on a big red sweater and jeans suitable for winter, tells Lena not to look and gets changed as quick as humanly possible. 

It’s 11:20 now, so she has no idea what to do. She considers taking a quick trip down to the cafeteria for lunch but decides that would be disloyal to Lucy and returns to her book. 

Lena is lying on her back with her eyes closed and her hands folded across her stomach, not even under the covers. Right, her head is probably still hurting a little, despite the aspirin. How interesting; medicine on Krypton was always immediately and completely effective. 

Lucy knocks on her door at 11:41 and Lena winces, so Kara rushes up to it, grabbing her phone on the way and opens it to avoid any more loud noises. She knows what it’s like to be sensitive to sound. 

“Lucy!” Kara whispers, “Lena’s really hungover so we have to leave quickly. Do you know any nice places to eat brunch?”

“Yeah, there’s this great place called Noonan’s like a 5 minute walk from here,” Lucy whispers back.

“Sounds great, let’s go!”

* * *

“So, anyway,” Lucy says, taking a sip of her coffee, “now that it’s winter the track is like, always frozen over by the end of the school day so I don’t have anywhere to run. Sucks.”

“That’s awful! How do you intend to keep fit?”

“Um… I don’t really know. Jog up and down the stairs perhaps?” Lucy jokes. 

Kara laughs, “it would certainly be effective.”

“Yeah. Anyway, more about you! You’ve been here a week and I know like… nothing about you. I don’t even know you’re last name, oh my God.”

“Sorry! I’m just a very, um, secretive person I guess. I’m Kara Danvers. Nice to officially meet you!”

Lucy laughs, “Anything else? Family? Siblings?"

“Well, as you know I was adopted. The Danvers are _so_ lovely and I’ve been missing them so much! Especially Alex,” Kara sighs, “my sister. We’re not as close as I’d like us to be but it still feels like a part of me is missing while I’m all the way in Ireland."

“Aw, I wish I felt that about my sister. I guess, we’re a little estranged. There’s always been a tension between us, I guess.”

Kara pouts, “golly, that sucks!”

“Golly?”

“Yes. Stop laughing! That’s mean. Anyway I was wondering, what do you want for Hanukkah--or, for you I guess, Christmas?”

“It’s like 3 weeks away, what are you talking about?”

“Still! I need to plan!”

“Oh my God, I don’t know, what do _you_ want?”

She giggles and takes a sip of her coffee to avoid the question, but Lucy continues to look at her. “I don’t know either…”

“Then you can’t ask me.” Lucy grins. “Oh, that reminds me! James.”

“How does that…”

“He’s _so_ lovely! Ugh, his smile makes me swoon and he took me all the way to the gates. And did I mention his smile?”

“You two are so cute! When are you going to start dating?”

“Kara! I don’t even know if he likes me!”

“Oh, come _on_. He wouldn’t stop looking at you, _and_ he had his arm around you the entire night.”

Lucy looks contemplative, “hmm… some good points. What about you and, uh, Mike?”

Kara furrows her brow, “what about him?”

“I mean…” Lucy gives her a look, “you went upstairs with him, alone, and you were chosen for seven minutes in heaven! Plus he’s um… he’s attractive?”

Kara grimaces, “Um… he has… relatively symmetrical features…”

Lucy bursts out laughing then, and Kara can’t help but smile. “Oh thank God! Have you seen his forehead?”

“ _Have_ I?”

Lucy snorts into her sandwich. “He’s not _all_ bad, I mean his teeth are okay.” She snorts again. “Anyway, tell me how rooming with the great Lena Luthor is going! Has she tried to strangle you yet? Have _you_ tried to strangle _her_?”

Kara’s affronted at the accusation, “No, of course not. Lena’s actually really nice!”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Yes, really! We had a few, um, disagreements but after the party it was all resolved.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. You’ve managed to tame her.”

Kara rolls her eyes, “I haven’t _tamed_ her, she never needed taming in the first place. And, side note, weird word choice. She just seems to get trouble because of her last name and stuff, which I don’t really understand the significance of.”

“So, you’re friends?”

“Um, maybe more like, tentative acquaintances?”

“Hah, okay. Works for me.”

* * *

They’re on their way back to the school having finished brunch quite quickly, when Kara seems him. Kal. 

He’s dressed as Clark of course, with his bulky glasses so similar to hers, and he waves at her despite being a good 50 feet from them. Kara awkwardly waves back, worry building in her gut. 

“Omg, who’s he? Super cute.”

“Oh, ew, he’s my cousin.”

“ _Oh_. Still super cute, though.”

Kara gently hip checks her. 

They finally get to him and he waves, again. He really has his Clark persona down to the letter. 

“Clark. What are you doing here? In Ireland?”

“Oh, I just wanted to check up on you, is all.” Kal grins sheepishly, but it falters when Kara doesn’t return it. 

“Of course,” says Kara, “Lucy, why don’t you go on ahead without me? I’ll meet you.”

Lucy bites her lip and looks at him, “Are you sure?”

“ _Lucy!_ He’s like twice our age!”

She releases her lip, “oh, I’ll be going then. See you!” She presses a quick kiss to Kara’s cheek which she returns, and waits for her to get out of human ear shot before turning to him. 

She sighs. “What are you doing here, Kal?”

“I just, wanted to check up on you is all. How are you doing in your new school? Making friends, I see? In fact, she looks kind of familiar…”

Kara grits her teeth. “Yeah. Lucy.” She sighs again, deeper this time. “Look, Kal, I appreciate this visit and everything but you _know_ how it affects me. I just—“

“I’m sorry. I do know.” _Not really, you don’t._ “To be completely honest, I’m also here to check in on—your powers.”

Kara bristles and crosses her arms, defiant. “I don’t need to be supervised anymore, I know how to control them.”

“Do you? We both know what happened at your old school and—“

“Yeah, we both do, and we don’t need to go over it again. I’ve learned my lesson, Kal. Please, let it go.”

Kal shakes his head, giving her a look of utter pity. Kara tightens her crossed arms. “I can’t let it go when you could be putting people in danger. Your roommate, for example. What if you, I don’t know, have a nightmare and burn a hole through her head because at that exact time you had been rolled over to face her?”

“Please, Kal, stop it—“

“I know you could never intentionally hurt someone, but—“

“Kal! Please!”

Kal’s mouth falls shut, and Kara sucks in a breath to stop the tears from falling. “Do you not think I think about this every single day? Do you not think I have to calculate just how much pressure to put on a person when I touch them? Hug them? Do you not think I worry about accidentally burning down the entire school if I get a little bit too angry?”

“Of course, I—“

“Kal, why didn’t you take me with you?”

A silence hits them, then. Kal is at a loss for words, and Kara is staring him right in the eye. She’s never asked him this, flat out. 

“Kara, I—I had a lot on my plate. I wasn’t… equipped to look after a 13 year old, you _must_ have known that. I didn’t have enough room for you.”

Kara smiles, although it’s devoid of humour. “You should have made room. I’m your cousin, Kal. Your blood. Your _only_ blood left.”

“I know,” and it’s so gentle, so quiet that Kara has to look away because she knows that if she stares any longer, she’ll cry. “I’m sorry. I know I should have, and I know I’ll never make it up to you. I’m sorry.”

It’s the one thing that she’s wanted to hear for 3 years, but it still doesn’t satisfy her. Nonetheless, she drops her arms and looks him in the eyes again. There’s nothing else she can ask him for. 

“Do you want to get ice-cream?” asks Kal.

“Okay.”

* * *

They’re sitting on a park bench licking at their ice-cream when Kal begins asking about her school life. Kara lets him; she doesn’t think she has any anger left after today. 

“So, your roommate? What’s she like?”

Kara smiles softly, “she’s lovely. Her hair is really nice and she’s smart, too. We’re actually really similar, in the oddest of ways.”

“Oh? And what’s her name?”

“Lena, Lena Luthor.”

Kara takes another lick of her ice cream, but stills when she realises Kal hasn’t said anything. He’s staring at her. 

“What?”

“Your roommate is Lena Luthor?”

“Yes?”

“Luthor.”

Kara rolls her eyes, “is that important?”

“You don’t know?”

Kara almost crushes her ice-cream cone. She’s _sick_ of people talking to her like she knows nothing. “No.”

“Kara… she’s Lex Luthor’s brother.

“I don’t know who that is.”

“He’s the CEO of Luthor Corp? Vehemently anti-alien, anti-superman?”

 _Oh._ “So what? That doesn’t mean Lena is.”

“Yeah but, they were raised in the same household. They’re going to share the same ideals.”

“I’ve made the mistake of judging people before, Kal. I’m not going to listen to what anyone says about her, unless it comes from her.”

“But, Kara she’s _dangerous_. You don't know what she could be capable of.”

“She doesn’t know what _I’m_ capable of, either! I’m pretty sure I’m more of a threat to her than she’d ever be to me, Kal. I don’t care what her brother has done. I may only have met her a week ago, but I know she’s good. I _know_ it.”

Kal scoffs, “I thought that about Lex too, once. You can _never_ trust a Luthor.”

Kara stuffs the rest of her ice-cream in her mouth, stands, and leaves. 

* * *

When she returns to her dorm it’s half 1 and Lena is still asleep but she’s closed the blinds. Golly, how much did she drink last night?

Kal’s words echo in the back of her mind, _you can never trust a Luthor_ but she shakes them away furiously. It seems she does have anger left, after all. 

She remembers she has some Physics to catch up with so begins rifling though her desk drawers for it, trying her utmost not to let the anger overtake her. Deep, long breathes. Through the nose, out the mouth— _Shoot!_  

The handle cracks in her hand. 

“Oh my God,” Lena says, eyes wide open, staring at her in horror. “You broke the handle.”

Kara winces, “Sorry! I woke you.”

“I don’t care about that, I care about how you broke a handle, in half.”

 _Shoot! Shoot shoot shoot!_ “Um…” Kara’s panicking, “I—Pilates?”

“What? That doesn’t even—“ Lena blows out a breath, “you know what? I don’t care. I’m going to go to sleep, you better call a janitor and it better be fixed by the time I wake up. I’m too tired for this—but don’t think I’ll forget.”

Lena rolls over to face the wall and Kara can hear her heartbeat begin to calm. She’ll need to find an explanation for this, or else— _you can never trust a luthor_ —Darn it! She shakes her head to get rid of the nasty thought, and decides to listen to Lena and call the janitor. 

It’s a simple case of remove and replace and it’s done in all of 5 minutes, leaving nothing to do for the rest of the day except hang out with Lucy and Vasquez. 

* * *

It’s 10 o’clock at night and Kara is returning from her late night trip to the cafeteria to pick up hot chocolates for Lena and her. She opens the door with her back and tiptoes into the room, but luckily Lena is finally awake. She hasn’t seen her since the, ahem, handle situation, and she looks a lot better. The bags are gone, at least. 

“Lena, hi.” 

Lena looks up from her textbook absentmindedly, the end of a pen caught between her teeth. “Kara, hi. What’s in your hands?”

“Hot chocolate? For us both?”

“Oh!” Lena straightens and pays actual attention to her, now. “Vegan hot chocolate?”

“Vegan—? There’s vegan hot chocolate?” Kara almost retches. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t drink that if it isn't vegan. Thank you for bringing it, though. I really appreciate the sentiment.”  Lena gives her an apologetic smile, but Kara just shrugs. More for her, that means. 

She sets the drinks down on her bedside table and gets into her pyjamas, sneaking looks to see if Lena is looking her way (she isn’t) and then settles into her bed. The hot chocolate is subpar, but it’ll do. 

“So, how was your day?”

Kara almost spills her drink. She really wasn’t expecting conversation. 

“Oh, it was good! I went for, um, brunch with Lucy earlier, and then—uh, my cousin visited—“

“Visited you in Ireland? From… America?”

Kara nods. “Mm hm. And then, um, the handle thing and then I just hung out in Lucy’s dorm for the rest of the day. 

Lena hums, contemplative. “You and Lucy are awfully close.”

Kara can’t help but smile at that, “yeah, we are. She’s lovely.”

Lena hums again, scribbles in her book and then looks back up at her. “Are you two, um…”

“Hm?”

“Are—um, never mind, it’s not important.”

“Are you sure? You can ask me anything, Lena.”

“Yeah, no, it doesn’t matter,” Lena shakes her head and frowns. “Anyway, first you break a handle and, if I remember correctly, you drank about your half your weight’s worth in alcohol last night?”

 _Oh, Rao._ “Uhhh—um, I just have a, uh,” _Think, Kara, think!_ “Natural alcohol resistance! In my, genes. From my mothers side of the family. She was a real party animal, ha ha.”

Lena doesn’t believe her. She can see it in the way Lena’s eyebrow raises, the tilt of her chin, the way her pen stills in their motions. 

“Right.” She pauses. “Look, I know you have a lot of secrets, and I have no right to them but—your secrets must be really goddamn weird for you to have to cover them up like that. Like, Pilates? Seriously?”

_Oh Gosh. Lena’s going to figure it out. She’s too smart not to._

“Are you like, a drug addict or something? Steroids?”

Kara bites her lip, “No, never.”

Lena sighs again. “Okay, if it’s going to be like that.” If Kara squints, Lena almost looks…hurt. “Just take care of yourself, okay? You seem like those types of people that spend too much time looking after everyone else that they don’t have anyone to look after _them_.”

Kara doesn’t know what to say, but thankfully Lena has already returned to her work. 

She downs the rest of her hot chocolate, takes her other one and downs that too, before tucking herself under the covers and falling asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! not all that lena and kara heavy towards the end, but hopefully the next chapter will solidify their bond and make them more than tentative acquaintances. thanks for reading :)


	6. roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena worries about Kara, ponders over her oddities and gets a call from Lex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hm , okay so just ignore the chapter title bc i couldn't think of anything good. i'm sure something will come to me but in the meantime, any ideas?  
> this was written before the mess that was sdcc ! i tried writing again today but i couldn't type anything, so the next chapter may come late due to lack of inpiration/motivation. also, I'm going on holiday like, tomorrow so not sure how free my schedule will be anyway !
> 
> enjoy :)

_Damn it_ , Lena think as she selects an entire paragraph and hits delete. She has 10 minutes to complete and print off her essay to hand in to J’onnzz first lesson and it looks like she’s not going to make it. She had planned to finish it off Monday night, but what with Kara tossing and turning in her bed she couldn’t get any work done. It’s surprising how the rustle of sheets can disturb your concentration in the dead of night. 

Her fingers are starting to get sore with the speed and ferocity at which she’s typing, and her lip is likely going to start bleeding soon, caught between her teeth. She’s never really been fond of essay type subjects. 

Kara walks into their dorm, then, and she looks terrible. 

From her hair to her eyes to her feet, she looks like she’s been raised from the dead by a particularly untalented necromancer. 

“Kara?” Lena asks, tentatively, to which Kara winces and doesn’t answer. 

_Oh, this is more serious than it seems_. She rests her hands above her keyboard and really takes Kara’s appearance in. Her hair, usually so bouncy and light looks dull and greasy, and her glasses do little to cover the redness of her eyes. Her school socks are two different lengths: one knee high, the other reaching the ankle, and her skirt looks as if to be turned the wrong way. Lena itches to fix it. 

She knows Kara didn’t sleep well last night, or at all it appears, but she could never imagine her looking this exhausted. 

She bites her lip, debating whether to ask about it when Kara just grabs her bag and walks out the door without a word of acknowledgement. Her first thought is that maybe Kara is angry at _her_ in particular, but then looking back she doesn’t think she’s said anything accidentally insensitive. Maybe she’s just… having a bad day, is all. 

Lena returns to her work. 

* * *

She’s out of breath by the time she makes it to J’onnzz’s lesson, with 20 seconds to spare till the final bell rings. He’s already sitting at his desk rifling through the essay’s he’s already received, and is interrupted when Lena slams her crumpled paper on top of it, without giving a damn for proper manners. 

“Thank you, Miss Luthor,” is all J’onnzz says, amused. 

Lena doesn’t have the energy to respond and she makes her way to the back of the room, chest still heaving, when she sees Kara with her head tucked in her arms.   
  
Siobhan is about to prod Kara with the end of her pencil but Lena gives her a stern look and she puts it down. Something must be really wrong for her to be acting like this, but she doesn’t ask. It’s not the time, nor the place, and if Kara wants she can come to her. 

* * *

She’s approached in the hallway on her way to her next lesson, by Lucy Lane. She may be small, but that doesn’t negate how utterly intimidating she can be. 

Lena readjusts her grip on her books as she looks down at her. “Yes?”

“What did you do?”

“What? I haven’t done anything. Just because I’m a Luthor—“

“I don’t care about that! Something is wrong with Kara, and she won’t talk to me about it. Did you upset her?”

So that’s what this is about. Lena pushes the anger down and looks Lucy right in the eye. “To my knowledge, I have not done or said anything to hurt Kara, but I do know she didn’t sleep well last night. I don’t think she slept at all.”

Lucy’s gaze flits between her eyes, looking for a trace of deceit but when she finds none, her hands fall from her hips. “Do you think she’s okay?”

The vulnerability she finds in Lucy’s tone throws of her off guard, and Lena has to blink several times to regain her ability to talk. It’s incredible the effect Kara has on other people; making them sick with worry when she’s only known them for a week. “I don’t know. But we know she’s a secretive person; we shouldn’t pry.”

Lucy sighs, defeated. “Yeah. Just, keep me updated, will you? I’m worried about her.”

“As am I,” Lena says, but Lucy’s already gone. 

* * *

It’s the lesson before lunch and already Lena is feeling the effects of hunger. She’d missed breakfast and her talk with Lucy had meant she hadn’t had any time to swing by the cafeteria for a snack, so she’s eager for the lesson to be over with. Dr. Kimberly, her Chemistry teacher is mumbling on about something entirely irrelevant to the topic they’re learning, but Lena resists the urge to throw her text book at him. She’s more interested in how Kara’s doing. Kara, who’s sat beside Lucy and is staring at the desk like nothing else exists but it.

About 15 minutes into the lesson Dr. Kimberly cracks a poor joke about electrons and a group of eager to please students near the front burst out laughing, and that’s when Kara stands up, grabs her bag and storms out the door. 

Dr. Kimberly’s mouth falls agape as he looks at where Kara had just been, and the room is silent as everyone tries to figure out what had just happened. Lena feels worry gnaw at her insides, and her grip on her pen tightens. She shares a concerned look with Lucy from across the room. 

A strange thing happens, then. Dr. Kimberly’s expression turns from shock to confusion to… enlightenment, like he’s just remembered something important, and he claps his hands, says “Anyway!” and continues with the lesson like nothing out of ordinary had just happened. 

Lena blinks. If Kara had been anyone else, he would have stormed out after her and dragged her back in. 

* * *

Lena finally makes her way back to her dorm, eager to take a quick power nap when she walks in and sees Kara, in a cocoon of duvet. She can’t see a single part of her, not even a few stray hairs splayed across her pillow. She’s completely enveloped. 

Lena bites her lip and places her bag down on the floor, gently, then moves to kneel beside Kara’s bed. She’s not really sure what to do. Kara’s state has been on her mind all day and she’d really like to check in on her, but she’s not quite sure how to go about it. Taking in a deep breath, she leans towards her and pauses, when she hears crying. 

It’s soft, barely audible sobs, separated by whimpers every few seconds, and Lena can’t move all of a sudden. 

“Kara?” She calls, as gently as she can.

“Please go away.”

_Oh_. Lena blinks and draws her hand back from where it had been hovering above the duvet, like she’d touched an open flame and stands. She grabs her bag and with a final look back, she leaves.

Lena considers going to Veronica’s room but, after the party she’s not really sure she wants to. She’s kept their contact to a minimum, enough to maintain their friendship, but not really anything else. Having Kara be the one to bring her back of all people means she didn’t have any other choice. And, if she didn’t have any other choice, it means she was probably left by her friends. 

She pauses outside her room nonetheless for a brief second, before deciding once and for all to go outside. 

She really should have brought a jacket, Lena realises when a blast of cold air hits her, but she’d rather not hassle Kara again and receive the same chilling reception, almost as cold as the winter air. The tone had shocked her; desperate, angry, but impersonal at the same time. Lena hadn’t known what to think.

Arms tight across her torso, she settles down on an empty bench. The sky is a stormy, swirling  grey but Lena knows the forecast didn’t predict any rain, so she should be okay. If not a little frostbitten. 

She extracts her assigned reading not needed for another week and begins, but she realises she doesn’t have the motivation nor the energy to process the words. Instead, she pulls out her phone from her skirt pocket and fingers through her notifications which she had ignored, not really in the mood for her friends. 

The group chat, in particular she had avoided but because she has nothing else to do she scrolls to the very top until she sees some she recognises. It’s Veronica of course, from the party. 

_new messages from roulette in the cult chat_

_roulette at 20:57 : godd what the fuck_

_roulette at 20:57 : i legit jus gave kara like her body weighh in vodka_

_roulette at 20:57 : shes just kept laughing at me_

_roulette at 20:57 : i should habe punched her the bich_

_roulette at 21:06 : ur all fake bitches respond to me_

_ssmythe at 21:07 : maybe she just was drinkign water_

_ssmythe at 21:07 : where are you i thought you were in the bathroom_

_ssmythe at 21:07 : ummm ive lost roulette anyone seen her_

_roulette at 21:08 : im Here im in the corner of the living room_

_ssmythe at 21:08 : which living room_

_roulette at 21:08 : uhhhjh_

_roulette at 21:08 : the one with the stairs_

_ssmythe at 21:09 : ???????_

_roulette at 21:09 : ugh nvm_

_roulette at 21:09 : wait_

_roulette at 21:09 : luthor n kara are talking on the sofa_

_roulette at 21:09 : hm._

_roulette at 21:10 : >:(_

_ssmythe at 21:11 : god shes so uhhhh disloyal_

_roulette at 21:11 : right_

_roulette at 21:11 : kara honey youve got a big sotrm comign_

_livewire at 21:12 : oh no_

_dumbest person alive on this planet at 21:12 : kara’s in the living room w/ the stairs?_

_dumbest person alive on this planet at 21:12 : pls someone chane my nam_

_roulette at 21:12 : okay :)_

_roulette changed dumbest person alive on this planet’s name to ‘dunce’_

_dunce at 21:13 : whag does dunce mean_

_dunce at 21:13 : its a good thing right_

_dunce at 21:13 : wait_

_dunce changed dunce’s name to ‘hot dunce’_

_roulette at 21:14 : im scremign_

_livewire at 21:14 : sweetie no_

_ssmythe at 21:14 : HAHAHA_

_roulette at 21:14 : fghjhgftfghjkhgfdsds_

_hot dunce at 21:15 : so its not a good thing ?_

_hot dunce changed hot dunce’s name to ‘very strog man who is also smarg’_

_very strog man who is also smarg changed very strog man who is also smarg’s name to ‘very strong man who is also smart’_

_very strong man who is also smart at 21:16 : wait theres kara_

Lena rolls her eyes. That must have been when Mike so rudely interrupted them. 

She’s not even close to catching up with all the messages so she just scrolls all the way to the bottom, catching a few choice words and her own name a few times. 

_very strong man who is also smart at 12:31 : guys kara is ignoring me_

_very strong man who is also smart at 12:31 : what did i do_

_very strong man who is also smart at 12:31 : wait i’ll send a screenshot_

_very strong man who is also smart at 12:39 : how do i send a screenshot_

_very strong man who is also smart at 12:43 : googled it all good now_

_very strong man who is also smart at 12:44 attached ‘lookseeshesignoringme.png’_

Lena clicks the image, part curious, part dreading. Mike has never been very tactful. 

_kara ;) at 07:25 : ha ha. :) wow thats funny_

_mike at 07:25 : right im a goldmine for jokes_

_mike at 07:25 : im just a funny type of guy who's also got very big arm muscles_

_mike at 07:59 : kara? hello_

_mike at 07:59 : right like i get i can be intimidating bc im so buff but i also really want to get to know you and be your friend like_

_mike at 07:59 : like you know we have a …. connection and stuff so_

_mike at 12:43 : kara_

_mike at 12:43 : kara_

_mike at 12:43 : kara?_

_mike at 15:49 : did i do something wrong?_

_mike at 15:49 : look i want to be your friend like_

_mike at 15:50 : youre literally my only connection to home_

_mike at 15:50 : talking with you at the party made me so happy i cant even explain_

_mike at 15:50 : kara?_

No-one else has responded yet, and Lena’s fingers hover over the keyboard, tempted to explain to him that Kara hasn’t been well all day. She doesn’t, though. While Mike may have shown a… softer side towards the end of the texts she still refuses to trust him and admittedly, she’s still holding a grudge for taking Kara away from her at the party. 

Hm. Kara. What is their bond? Their connection? All Lena can think of that they have in common is that they both lack social etiquette and knowledge of colloquial terms, as well as sharing an odd… strength. Lena had asked Kara if it was steroids which she’d promptly denied and Lena had believed her. Perhaps Kara’s just a really dedicated body builder. Maybe she’s just a little slow in social situations. 

Lena pauses. Maybe, she’s superman?

No. 

First of all, superman is a man, second, he guards Metropolis and not Ireland, and thirdly Kara holding such raw power is unnerving and more importantly, unrealistic. She rolls her eyes at herself. Her fatigue is really getting to her.

She places the phone down on the table and rubs her hands up and down her arms, trying to regain some semblance of warmth. It’s already about 4 o’clock and her toes and fingers are beginning to numb. Maybe she should sit in the school library, instead. 

* * *

The Library is a whole lot more warm, almost stiflingly so because of such a quick temperature change but nonetheless, Lena continues making her way to an empty table in the corner. 

She’s procrastinated enough so she takes her textbook out, determined to get through a considerable chunk of it when her phone pings.

A small part of her hopes it’s Kara, even though that’s impossible because she doesn’t have her number so she quickly extracts her phone to find, it’s a text from Lex. 

_Lex_ _at 16:01 : Lena! Haven’t spoken to you in a while, and was just wondering how you’re doing :)_

Lena quells her excitement until it’s just a small warmth in her chest. 

_Lena at 16:02 : Lex, it’s good to hear from you. I’m doing well, thank you. How are you?_

_Lex at 16:02 : Great, thanks! Hey, how about I call you instead, so we can talk face to face?_

_Lex at 16:02 : Or more accurately, ear to ear?_

_Lena at 16:02 : Sure._

She waits for the call to arrive with her heart beating very quickly, and sure enough her screen turns to his caller ID. She taps the green button and presses the phone to her ear, mindful of her surroundings. 

_“Lena!”_

Lena smiles and drops her voice to a whisper. “Lex, hi.”

Lex drops to a conspiratory whisper as well, _“why are you whispering?”_

She smothers a laugh with her hand, “I’m in a library, sorry. So, why are you calling anyway?”

There’s a pause, a shuffle of papers. _“Just wanted to hear your voice, and uh, I also need your help.”_

And, there it is. Lena almost laughs at her own naivety.

“Of course,” she says, instead of hanging up. “What do you need?”

_“Just, a bit stuck on a project of mine. Trying to control the effects of a substance?”_

“You’re going to have to give me more than that, Lex.”

_“Right, uh. Say I had, some lead, or something. I don’t know. A toxic substance. How would I control how toxic it is, in real time?”_

Lena furrows her brow and readjusts her grip on the phone. “From no effect, to full effect and everything in between?”

_“Yes. I’m just, exhausted right now. I had an all nighter on another project so now I have no brain juice for this,”_ he laughs.

“Maybe, instead of asking me for help you should take a nap?”

_“No! I just—I need your help, now please.”_

Lena sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose. “Okay, well. I suppose you’d need something to counter the effect of the substance? Maybe, a liquid or something that’s easily controllable that you can move away or closer to the substance, which either strengthens or weakens it’s effects?” She sighs again. “Look, Lex, I don’t know either. I was going to take a nap earlier but my roommate is, well uh, ill. That probably won’t even work.”

Lex scoffs. _“Well it’s better than what I had,”_ she can hear a pen scribble across a note pad. _“Thank you, Lena.”_

Lena grits her teeth. “What is this even for, anyway?”

_“It’s just…”_ more scribbling, _“side project. Think of it as a last line of defence.”_

“Defence against what, Lex?”

_“Superman, of course.”_

Lena stills. Plays the sentence over in her head again. “Lex. Your obsession with him has to stop. What has he ever done to you?”

_“Nothing, yet. But you never know.”_

“You’re ridiculous. He, might be an extraterrestrial but that doesn’t mean—“

He’s hung up. Just like he always does when they have a disagreement. 

Lena gets back to reading. 

* * *

Hunger sated, reading assignment completed, Lena makes her way back to her dorm after dinner. She hadn’t seen Kara at the cafeteria which was just adding to her concern. She’ll be surprised if Kara is even alive at this point.

She quietly opens the door and shuts it behind her, chancing a look Kara’s way. She’s peeked her head out of the covers and is staring at her with her brow furrowed.

Lena bites her lip to avoid saying anything, remembering the way she had reacted to her voice this morning. Instead, she gives her a nod and sits down on the edge of her bed, Kara’s eyes following her every movement. She can’t see very well in the dark, but Kara’s red, puffy eyes are still visible.

Kara wiggles a little further out from her cocoon, until her nose and her upper lip are visible.

“Hi, Lena.”

Lena blinks. “You’re not kicking me out this time?”

Kara flinches and pulls the covers over her nose. She must have been too loud. 

“No, I’m not.” A pause. “I’m sorry for making you leave, earlier.”

Lena smiles softly and makes sure to lower her voice to a whisper. “That’s fine. I was just, um. Concerned. You left in the middle of class.”

“I know.”

It seems like Kara’s not going to give _anything_ away. “Look, I know that we’re not even friends, we’ve only known each other for a week, but. You can talk to me, you know? About, what’s wrong.”

“I’m. I’d rather not.”

Lena holds back a sigh. “That’s okay. Would you like me to leave so you can get some more rest?”

Kara nods, and then pauses. “Wait—“

“Yes?”

“I, um. Can you stay, actually? I just—I like the sound of your voice.”

Lena feels a deep warmth blossom in her chest, and she smiles. “Of course, Kara.” She toes her shoes off, puts her bag on the floor and lies on top her duvet, on her side to face Kara. “What would um, what would you like me to talk about?”

“Anything. Just, quietly.”

Lena smiles again. “What do you know about quantum entanglement?”

“Um, nothing really.”

“Okay. The theory is basically like, two or more atoms influence each other’s states, even if they’re separated by billions and billions of miles of space. If one atom changes, that will induce a change in the other.” Kara is staring at her mouth as she talks, and probably not even listening but Lena continues anyway, watching as her blinks become slower, and slower. “If somehow, we managed to harness this, we could share information _instantaneously_. Teleportation. Mind reading. The possibilities are endless.” Kara’s eyes are closed now, and her breathing has evened out. 

Lena pauses, unsure if she should continue when Kara murmurs, “keep going, please.”

“Oh. Uh.” Lena traces Kara’s features with her gaze like she did that first night, but it’s different, now. She feels fondness as she follows the curve of brow, her eyelashes, the deep dip above her lip. The scar on her forehead. “Some say that the theory still holds if one were to replace atoms, with humans. I suppose, a soulmate type of thing. Not, um, not that I believe in soulmates, but. A kind of, sixth sense connection that can join people across… buildings, countries. Even planets, perhaps.”

* * *

“Good morning!” 

Lena almost falls out of her bed, her brain clamouring to process her surroundings, still half asleep. 

She blinks slowly; she forgot to take her contacts out _again_ last night, and she can hardly see a thing. She slips them out and fumbles around on her bedside table for her glasses. 

It’s Kara, who had woken her up so rudely. 

“Kara?”

“Lena!”

“Mmm, stop shouting, please. My brain is not awake.”

Kara lowers her voice, her nose scrunching up. “I’m sorry I just—I feel so much better today.” She sighs, and Lena feels a gust of cold air hit her face from across the room. “You really helped, last night. Thank you.”

Lena smiles, albeit tiredly. “It’s fine, Kara. It’s what, um… what roommates are for. I hope you slept well.”

“Yes, I did.” Kara’s grin is so large Lena worries it’s hurting her. “I think I owe you an explanation, too.”

Lena feels excitement bubble up, but she pushes it down. “You don’t owe me a thing.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m explaining anyway, um.”

Lena sits up in her bed and crosses her legs, facing Kara. 

“Jeremiah, my adoptive father calls it sensory overload. It’s… stronger than your average overload but, it’s basically the same. If I don’t sleep well or don’t eat enough or just, don’t look after myself properly I guess I’m more prone to them, and the one yesterday—well, it’s one of the worst ones I’ve had in a while.”

Lena hums. “That makes sense. Thank you, for telling me even though you didn’t have to. I’ll be mindful next time.”

Kara smiles. “Thank you. I know that, um, me just listening to you talk must have been weird—“

“It wasn’t.”

“—but it helps when I can focus on one thing, you know? And I was getting sick of listening to my own heartbeat.”

“So, you’ll be going to class today? Do you need me to fill you in on any classes we share? Homework?”

“No, no, that’s fine. My teachers had been made aware of stuff like that happening when I first transferred. Thank you, though.”

_I guess that explains Dr. Kimberly’s behaviour._ “Okay, I think I’m going to shower,” Lena pats her body down, and realises she’s still wearing her uniform. “Oh. That’s why I’m so uncomfortable. See you at breakfast, maybe?”

“Yeah, okay.” Kara hops off her bed and gives her one last bright smile before leaving the room. “See you!”

* * *

Lena thumbs the last few pages of her book, eager to finish it before going to sleep when Kara walks in, backwards. She turns around and she’s holding two polystyrene cups. 

“I have hot chocolate!”

Lena falters. “You do know I’m vegan, right?”

“Yes!” Kara grins. “Can you believe the cafeteria actually sells vegan hot chocolate? And they put like, almond milk instead of cow milk.” She hands her the cup. “Dunno how it’ll taste but um, enjoy!”

Lena takes a sip, but the warmth of the drink does little to rival the warmth she feels towards Kara’s efforts, and Kara herself. 

“Thank you. It’s… pleasant.”

“It’s alright. Think of it as a thank you, for last night.”

Lena takes a longer sip, careful not to burn her tongue because it’s less warm and more hot, and watches as Kara finishes it without even a wince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! disclaimer that i don't know anything about vegan hot chocolate or if almond milk with vegan hot chocolate is tasty at all, sorry. 
> 
> and, just to reiterate in case you missed the first note, schedule of coming chapters for the next month or so is uncertain, but i'll try my best. see you!


	7. shopping buddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara chats with Ms. Grant, goes shopping with Lena and returns home for winter break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi !!!! guess what !!!!!!! i managed to update on schedule !!!!  
> im now mentally over sdcc but uh still can't promise regular updates bc i don't know what free time i'll have. luckily today was pretty free!  
> side note, just found out kara is jewish, and i know next to nothing abt Hanukkah so i'll need to do some research before going back and rewriting this and other chapters where i've mentioned it. if anyone has considerable knowledge on jewish holidays then please hmu!!!!!! edit: i've fixed it ! thank you freckledfawn for your help !!
> 
> also, i may have sped up the progression of karas and lenas relationship a little bit faster than planned to for some reason make up for my feelings abt sdcc, so sorry if it's a bit fast!!
> 
> nonetheless, enjoy!

It’s been almost a week since her bad day and it seems as if everyone has forgotten about it, save for Lena and Lucy and… Ms. Grant. That’s why she finds herself in her office, wringing her hands and shrivelling under her inspecting stare.

“You’re sure you’re fine?”

Kara sighs to try and keep the smile off her face. “Yes, I’m sure. You’ve checked on me every other day since; and I’ve been fine for every one of them.”

Ms. Grant hums, squints her eyes. “… if you’re sure.”

“ _Yes_. I just didn’t sleep well.”

It’s unnerving that Ms. Grant knows about her… unique situation, but it’s also impossibly comforting, as well. For years she’d been told that if anyone were to discover who she really was, they would shun her, bring pitchforks and torches to her front step, cast her out as an outsider. Ms. Grant treats her like anybody else, if not a little bit more fragile (which is frankly, ridiculous).

Ms. Grant hums again and waves her hand to dismiss her. Kara grins and stands up, then leaves for her dorm. 

* * *

“I’m so excited, Lena! Aren’t you?”

Lena rolls her eyes, but Kara can see the upwards pull of her lip. “You’ve been talking about Hanukkah non-stop since yesterday. I can’t _help_ but be excited because of you.”

“Aw, that’s cute,” Kara grins when Lena’s ears turn a light shade of pink. “Anyway, I need help choosing presents! I was thinking, since it’s Sunday and the sun is still awake, we could go shopping.”

Lena’s hands on her laptop still. “Oh?”

“Yes! Unless, you don’t want to?”

“I…” Lena glances at her, frowning. Kara takes that as a no and starts to detract her offer when Lena suddenly says, “I’d love to go, but wouldn’t you rather go with, um. Lucy? She’s, your best friend. Or something.”

“And _you’re_ my roommate. Besides, I can’t go shopping with her while I’m buying her present, silly! Come on, get out of your PJ’s and lets go!”

Lena reluctantly closes her laptop, a forlorn look on her face at the idea of not getting to finish her essay, but Kara pulls her up by the wrist nonetheless. “Fine, but we better be back by 2. I have a lot to do.”

“Shopping has no time limit is what Lucy taught me, so I can’t promise you anything! Here, put this on,” Kara says as she hands Lena a shirt and hoodie. “Oh, and here—“ She flings a pair of jeans in her general direction, pausing only when she finds a pantsuit at the very bottom of her drawer. “Oh my gosh… Lena you brought a pantsuit, to _school_?”

Lena clutches her clothes tightly, a bitter and embarrassed look flitting across her face. “Mother insisted.”

“Gosh you _must_ try it on for me at some point! I bet you’d look dashing.”

Kara continues rummaging through her clothes, looking for a pair of socks, but stills when she doesn’t hear a response. 

Lena looks dazed, and a little red. “Lena?”

“Yes? Oh. Sorry. I’ll just—I’ll put these on.”

Kara smiles and returns to her search for the elusive pair of socks, resisting the sudden urge to look at Lena out of the corner of her eye. She can hear Lena’s heartbeat as she’s changing, which is unusually fast and Kara’s a little concerned for her health because, if that’s the state it’s in when she’s doing something as simple as getting changed… Kara’ll recommend her to see a doctor, or something. 

“Ah ha!” Kara’s found a pair of socks! Tucked in the very far corner of the drawer. “Found them!” She spins around and holds the socks out to her, only to see Lena, shirt on the wrong way round, red in the face. “Lena! You’ve got your shirt on the wrong way. Here— let me help.”

She tosses the socks to the side and pushes Lena’s arms into her shirt and is about to twist it around when Lena says, “I can do it! I can do it by myself. Um.”

“Oh, okay.” Kara wrinkles her nose. “I’m sorry, I have some issues with invading personal space when I become close with someone. I’ll let you—“

“No, it’s fine. I don’t—er, I don’t know why I reacted like that. I’ll just, twist; okay, I’m done.”

“Great! Here are your socks, let’s go!”

* * *

They’ve been shopping for about an hour now, and it’s only half 12. They’d managed to find presents for Kara’s new friends (Winn, James, Lucy, Vasquez) and all in all she was happy with her selection. She’d just, somehow have to get away from Lena to buy hers.

But that’s a matter for Future Kara. Right now, she’s starving. 

Lena tells her she rarely leaves the school, and Kara rolls her eyes and grins as she hauls her over to Noonan’s, where she’d gone for brunch the other week with Lucy. 

“God, I love their sandwiches. And their muffins. _And_ their smoothies. I’m pretty sure they have some vegan stuff, too!”

Kara gets 3 tuna melts and 5 muffins, as well as a chocolate smoothie. It’ll tide her over until her allotted snack time, at 4. Lena gets a slice of cake, and a glass of orange juice, and they quickly make their way to the seats at the back of the establishment. It’s warm, and cozy, and Kara can’t help but relax. 

"So, uh. Mike was asking about you," Lena looks decidedly nervous as she says this. Kara too, feels nerves begin to bundle in her stomach.

"Mike uh--right. What exactly has he been saying?"

"That... you two have," Lena lifts her hands to make air quotes, "a 'bond'? He won't stop going on about it. Looks like someone has a crush." Lena blinks, one eye closing quicker then the other. Maybe it was a wink.

"I mean, he's not wrong? But, I don't think he has a crush on me, that's ridiculous! We've only known each other for like, one week."

"Well it's not all that improbable. People can get crushes pretty quickly." Lena pauses and looks down at her cake. "Ahem. Anyway--"

“Oh, I just, wanted to say thank you for coming with me,” Kara begins, already digging into her first muffin. 

Lena laughs, “it’s not like you really gave me a choice.”

“Well, from what little I know about you, I _do_ know you don’t do anything you don’t really want to do.”

“That’s… actually quite accurate, I guess.” Lena hides her smile behind a sip of orange juice. “I’m having fun, anyway. Who knew watching someone shop would be entertaining?”

Kara laughs and dusts the crumbs off her hands, and reaches for her smoothie. “Uh, there’s nothing better than present shopping! Anyway, it’s a good break for you; you study too hard.”

“I study the adequate amount, thank you very much.”

“Not really, Lena! You’re way more intelligent than the rest of the class, and I don’t understand why you put so much effort in when you don’t have to.”

“Says _you_. I remember your first maths class and you finished—“

“Shh! That was so embarrassing! I had to stand up in front of the entire class.”

“It wasn’t embarrassing, it was _impressive_ , Kara. Your mind, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

Kara reddens, “Stop! You’re making me blush.”

Lena laughs, leans forward. “It’s true, though. You must admit it.”

“Only if you admit that you work too much.”

“Never!”

“Fine!”

“ _Fine_!”

They both start laughing again, ignoring the looks from strangers looking at them. Once it dies down, Kara says, “I know we didn’t exactly get along, at first. But I’m glad you’re my roommate.”

Lena pauses, looks down at her cake and bites her lip. “Not Lucy?”

Oh. That throws Kara off. “You really don’t like Lucy, huh.”

“No, no! I do, it’s just—“

“I love Lucy, a whole lot! But I feel like—if she _had_ been my roommate, I never would have gotten to meet you.” Kara smiles, brighter than Rao’s light, then, and Lena breaks their gaze. 

“That’s…” she breathes in, “nice.”

Kara rolls her eyes. “Okay, I get that you don’t do the mushy feelings stuff. I never used to, either, but it’s fun once you get used to it.”

“I’ll, um, take your word.”

They finish off their lunches with some idle chatter in between, and finish their shopping for Kara’s family shortly before 2.

* * *

It’s the end of Friday, the final day of school and Lena has just burst through their door, chest heaving and heart racing. Her hair is windswept and wild, and her cheeks are a deep red from the cold and presumably, the running.

“Lena?” Kara asks, confused. 

“Kara! I, just. Dropped by town.”

Kara tilts her head and puts her book to the side. “Oh? Why?”

“Uh, just. Could you go to Lucy’s for maybe, 5 minutes? Without asking any questions?”

Kara stands up, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Okay… but you better tell me what’s happening when you get back.”

“Yes! Of course,” Lena breathes. “Just, please go.”

Lena ushers her out with one hand, the other hidden behind her back and Kara’s tempted to use her x-ray vision to see what it is. She doesn’t, though. That would be wrong.

Instead she grabs her bag of presents, and walks over to Lucy’s and Vasquez’s dorm and knocks.

“Come in!” Lucy calls, and so Kara does. Lucy’s sprawled over her bed on top of the covers, and Vasquez is sat on the floor with her head lolled back against her bed frame.

"Lucy! Vasquez! Hi!"

Vasquez nods at her and Lucy mumbles a quiet "hi" that Kara probably wouldn't have been able to pick up, if not for her super hearing.

"Gosh, why are you both so down in the dumps?"

Vasquez answers for her as Kara plops herself down on Lucy's bed, tempted to nudge her still body. ”She's ill. I'm pissed about not going home for winter break."

"Oh, you're not--? Why?"

Vasquez sighs, “my parents don't really... accept me."

Kara wrinkles her nose, "I don't understand. What don't they accept about you?"

Vasquez looks undecided about telling her, when Lucy enters the conversation. "They're non binary."

"Non..." Kara frowns, "like, the numbers? The 1s and 0s?"

"No like, I'm not a girl or a boy. And, that's why I prefer my last name."

Kara has a pretty substantial list of questions but she decides just to google them, later. Vasquez is looking uncomfortable as it is.

"Okay, I'll stop asking for your first name, then. If, that makes you feel better.” Kara hums and smiles, "Lucy, I thought you never got sick!"

"Hnnng."

"I'll take that as a... I thought wrong, then."

Vasquez laughs, and Lucy huffs, wriggles over to muster up a glare.

"Well, I have your presents! All wrapped, and stuff," she reaches into the plastic bag, "here!"

"I have yours and Lucy's for you, too." Vasquez reaches under her... their bed and chucks both presents her way. "It's small but, yeah."

"Thank you so much, both of you!" Kara squeals and hugs Lucy by lying on top of her, but careful not to squeeze her to death. When Kara turns to Vasquez, they give her a look that says they'd rather not be crushed, which Kara understands. There'd been an incident a couple days ago where she'd almost cracked Vasquez's ribs. Whoops.

Lucy rolls onto her back so that Kara can lie a little more comfortably on top of her, resting her cheek on her collarbone. "I'm going to miss you both so much over winter break! You have to promise to text every day, okay?"

"Of course, Kara," says Vasquez, shooting her a grin.

Lucy sniffs and mumbles a "fine", and goes to kiss her on the cheek.

The thing is, with Lucy’s fever riddled brain and consequential lack of mouth-eye coordination, as well as their position makes the exchange so difficult that their lips touch very briefly, just as Lena opens the door.

"Oh!" Lena says, and shuts the door. 

A few seconds pass before Lena reappears again, and her hue rivals Kara's. “I’m! So sorry, was I—interrupting?”

“No no! I just! It was—“

Lena shakes her head, hands extended, “You don’t need to explain anything, Kara. If you and Lucy are—“

“We’re not—!”

“You’re… not?”

Lucy grins, “…or are we?”

Kara smacks her on the arm, “Lucy!”

“Oh my God, that’s going to bruise.”

“Shoot, sorry! Can I see—?”

“So, _are_ you two together, or…?”

“No!” Kara says, and she can see Lucy and Vasquez poorly hiding their laughter behind their hands. “We just—“

“Because it’s okay if you are!”

“We’re not!”

A pause. “Okay.” Lena clears her throat. “Anyway, I have—I mean, you can come back, now. If you want.”

“I do. Want.” Kara bites her lip, praying that she’s a little less red in the face, now. “Let me just say bye and I’ll see you there!” 

“Sure, okay.” Lena awkwardly closes the door, and Kara can hear her start to make her way back to their dorm. 

Vasquez and Lucy do little to hide their amusement now that Lena’s gone. Vasquez is smacking their hands against their thighs and Lucy’s turned back onto her stomach and is vibrating with laughter. 

“Guys!”

Vasquez snorts, “Oh God, that was so awkward.”

“You’re telling me.” Kara crosses her arms. “Okay, I’m gonna go. I hope you both have lovely, wonderful, amazing winter holidays,” she stands up and gives Vasquez a (gentle) hug, then turns back around to give Lucy’s arm a slight squeeze. 

“Is that all?” Asks Lucy and pulls her closer. “Lemme give you a hug,” as she wraps her arms tightly around Kara’s torso. “Okay, bye. Go hang out with your evil roommate.”

“She’s not evil!” Kara sing songs as she closes the door behind her. 

_She’s not_ , she reassures to herself, and then hates that she has to. Darn Kal and his stupid prejudices, and now hers. She _knows_ Lena’s good. There isn’t an ounce of evil in her. 

Kara’s proven this when as soon as she enters her dorm, a bunch of hastily wrapped presents are thrown at her. 

“AH!” Kara squeals and lifts her arms up to protect herself from the barrage of objects, despite being indestructible. She puts them down once all the presents have fallen to the floor. “Oh my gosh! You got me presents!”

Lena blushes, “I saw you get some for me, so. I had to return the favour.”

“No you didn’t, Lena. But I greatly appreciate that you did.” Kara smiles and picks up the presents, one by one. “How many did you get?”

Lena looks at the ceiling as she counts, “Five.”

“Five?! I got you _two_.”

Lena blushes again. “I have more money.”

“Yeah, but. Golly. _Five_?”

“Don’t make me change my mind!” Lena warns, “I’ll take some back if you don’t want them.”

Kara clutches them closer to her chest, “I’m keeping them, thank you very much.” 

Lena smiles, “good,” and then watches as Kara puts the presents gently onto her bed and approaches her, with a huge grin. 

Lena doesn’t have any time to react before Kara’s wrapped her hands around her shoulders and squeezes, and doesn’t proceed to react until Kara calls her name. 

“Lena?”

Kara can feel Lena’s heartbeat through her shirt. It’s fast. 

“Yes?”

“You can hug back, you know.”

After a moment, Kara can feel a pair of hands very gently come to rest on her shoulder blades. 

“There we go,” Kara coos, and rocks them side to side before letting her go. “Our first hug! Milestone,” she sings, and bounces onto her bed. Her chest feels impossibly warm, like Rao himself is sitting on her heart. 

“I—“ Lena is still standing, her hands poised like she’s in a fight stance. She shakes herself out of it, and sits down on her bed to mirror Kara. “Um.”

Kara tilts her head, frowning. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” _Rao, what if I crushed her?_

“No!” Lena stammers. “You were very… um. Soft.”

Hm. Weird word choice. “Okay,” Kara laughs. “Hey, are you going home for winter?”

“No.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Lillian and I… mutually agreed it would be better.”

Kara hums, doubtful. “Alright, well. I should give you my number, then.”

“Why?”

“So you don’t get lonely, duh.”

Kara hops out of bed and pulls her phone out of her skirt pocket, gesturing for Lena to give hers, too. 

It’s a quick exchange, but it still somehow leaves Kara a little breathless with anticipation. “There we go! Promise you’ll text every day?”

Lena looks hesitant, “Um… I guess.”

That’s good enough for her. “Great! Could you help me pack the last of my stuff?”

* * *

It's a long flight home, but it feels even longer for Kara, watching the clouds pass her by as she imagines herself flying through them. 

When she arrives at the airport, Jeremiah is there to pick her up and he lifts her up with a tight squeeze, and Kara squeals. She's missed him and the Danvers a whole lot. He drives her home, playing her favorite music and joking with her, like it makes up for sending her all the way to Ireland. 

She doesn't hold it against him! She doesn't. She understands, now, having spent 3 weeks away from him and Eliza, and her old school. Being away gave her a chance to restart, and while at first she might have been a little resentful, she's not anymore. Ireland gave her Lucy, and Vasquez, Mike, Winn and James, and also Lena. Hm. Even thinking about her makes her warm, again. Kara's determined to officially befriend her now. 

She races out of the car when she sees home and Alex, standing awkwardly outside with one hand clutching her elbow, unsure what facial expression to portray. Happiness would give too much away, apathy would be too mean. She appears to settle on amusement. 

Kara skids to a stop just arms length from Alex, resisting the urge to hug her and accidentally squeeze her organs out. Instead, she gives her a bright smile, which Alex returns, albeit a little hesitantly. It's always been like this; Kara’s eagerness and Alex’s skepticism towards affection.

She let's Alex come to her, and it's a very tentative hug like she doesn't quite trust Kara to not kill her so Kara takes special care with her placement of her hands on Alex's upper back. She's missed her. 

Alex pulls away and Kara smiles and Eliza comes out of the door, smiling as well.

* * *

It's weird, sleeping in her bed. It's far softer than her dorm one, and it feels almost like she's being absorbed by the cotton when she lands in it, sinking into the springs until they near breaking. Good thing Jeremiah reinforced them. 

What's also weird is the lack of Lena. Over the weeks, without Kara even noticing, Lena’s heartbeat and her breathing had helped put her to sleep, like a lullaby. So now, she substitutes it with Eliza’s and Jeremiah’s breathing, although it’s not nearly as effective. 

Kara lies there, for a while. She’s not sure how long. 

The trees are rustling; the wind unusually strong, and she can hear the individual heartbeats of the birds clinging to the branches for dear life. The mice, running through the fields, their tiny feet hitting the soil with every step. The strands of grass parting for them. 

Yeah. She’s not going to sleep any time soon, so she rolls over and unplugs her phone from the charger, then rolls back over. She’s forgotten to text Lena in all the commotion of returning home. 

Her thumb hovers over the call button, but decides on opening with a text. They’re still not close enough for calls, anyway. _And_ Lena is 6 hours ahead, timezone wise. She’s probably still asleep. 

Nevertheless, she shoots off a quick message. 

_kara at 22:31 : lena !!!!!! i almost forgot to text you but i couldn't sleep without you here_

_kara at 22:32 : is that weird????? thats weird. anyway_

_kara at 22:32 : hope ur having a good time xxxxx <3 B-) :-P=^_^= <333 xxxx_

One quick message accidentally turns into three. Oops. 

_lena !! :D at 22:33 : Kara._

_lena !! :D at 22:33 : It’s 4 30 am_

_lena !! :D at 22:34 : It’s weird without you here too. A bit chilly, but okay_

_lena !! :D at 22:34 : Have a good night._

Kara blinks. Rereads the message. Rereads the message again, just to check she’s not hallucinating. Rereads a final time, just so the feeling of unbridled elation can stay, because Lena’s put a kiss, at the end of her last text. 

She can’t keep the smile off her face as she shoots back a couple of hearts and switches her phone off, before falling asleep with ease.

* * *

Kara’s first thought when she wakes up, is _It’s the last day of Hanukkah!_ and then after that, _it’s 10 am!_

The sun is just as tired as Kara in winter and it was no surprise that she woke late, but she’d hoped that her alarm would have been able to rouse her. (It didn’t.)

She jumps out of bed and zooms downstairs, barely controlling her super speed in her eagerness to open her present, when she’s met with the sight of Eliza, Jeremiah and Alex sat at the kitchen counter, nursing coffee and digging into their bacon and eggs and pancake and syrup, presents left unopened. 

“Kara!” Eliza says, and hands her her own plate. “We waited up for you.”

Kara smiles, even if it doesn’t adequately represent her happiness. “Thank you so much! I—gosh. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Alex says, scooping up the last of her bacon with a smile, “Just eat your food quick so we can open our presents."

Kara complies, still grinning as she shovels the pancakes into her mouth, as well as a bagel. They move to the living room quickly after she’s done. 

* * *

After opening their presents, they watch Elf and munch on snacks, while Kara texts her friends thanks for their presents. She'd loved them all and she was so unbelievably grateful that she'd met them. 

Lena isn't in their group chat however, so she types out an individual message.

_kara at 11:57 : lena ???!!!!!!?? how much did u spend omg_

_kara at 11:57 : the presents were so sweet thank you so much im so happy with them !!!!!!! <3_

_lena !! :D at 11:58 : Kara! The oil paints weren't that expensive_

_kara at 11:58 : you left the price sticker on them_

_lena !! :D at 11:58 : Oh._

_lena !! :D at 11:58 : Well, the rest weren't that expensive_

_kara at 11:58 : .... the necklace????????????_

_lena !! :D at 11:59 : Oh. Yes._

_lena !! :D at 11:59 : Well they're not nearly as lovely as what you got me_

_kara at 11:59 : jjghh stop it ur making me blush_

_kara at 11:59 : it was just a mug and fancy book!!!!!!_

_lena !! :D at 12:00 : It was still awfully sweet._

_lena !! :D at 12:00 : Veronica doesn't believe in giving presents_

_lena !! :D at 12:00 : Not because she doesn't believe in Christmas, but because she thinks it's a waste of money securing friendships that will end after graduation, anyway._

_lena !! :D at 12:00 : Overshare, sorry_

_kara at 12:00 : omg no it's fine !!!!!!!_

_kara at 12:00 : not to be mean but veronica doesn't seem very nice :-/_

_lena !! :D at 12:01 : ... She's not._

_kara at 12:01 : then, why are you friends ????_

_lena !! :D at 12:01 : Hm. New conversation topic please_

_kara at 12:01 : for example ???_

_lena !! :D at 12:01 : For example. Uh. My idol is Joan of Arc_

_kara at 12:01 : ????? who_

_lena !! :D at 12:02 : You don't know who she is._

_kara at 12:02 : .....................no?_

_lena !! :D at 12:02 : Okay. Once you get back I'm giving you a PowerPoint presentation._

_kara at 12:02 : I know you like to deny it, but you are a h u g e nerd lena_

_lena !! :D at 12:02 : ... A secret that a hope will remain between us?_

Kara begins to type _'of course ????!!!!!! <333_', but she hears Kal's heartbeat nearby, all of a sudden. She puts her phone down and follows his movement into the house, until he's at the threshold of the living room. 

"Kal." Kara says, remembering their last conversation about Lena. She tucks her phone into the crevice of the sofa. 

"Kara," he smiles, gingerly, which is a strange sight to see with his super suit on. 

"Clark, how nice to see you!" Eliza says, and Jeremiah and Alex nod in agreement. 

"Likewise," he returns, then looks to Kara. "I... wanted to give you this." A cloth of sorts, is bundled in his right hand. It's a deep red hue, similar to his cape. She can't quite place where she remembers it from.

"What is it?" 

"My baby blanket." He smiles, softly. "It's indestructible, but don't go around saving people just yet, okay?" 

Kara takes it, feels it's weight and the tightly woven fibres in her hands, knows it's not from this earth as soon as it touches her skin. 

"I just..." Kal sighs. Kara's phone pings but she ignores it. "Think of it as an apology. I know it's not nearly enough, but. It's all I had."

Kara pulls the blanket to cover her thighs, marvelling at its design, its sleekness, not saying anything. 

"Okay, um. I'll be going then," his Clark persona slips through a little, "Jeremiah, Eliza, Alex. Good to see you."

He's gone in a flash, before Kara can even thank him.

* * *

Her winter break has passed impossibly fast, and she's sad to say goodbye to the Danvers. It's the night before she leaves on an early flight the next day and she's just finished her packing, when she hears Jeremiah enter Alex's bedroom. His heart rate is a little faster than it should be. 

"Alex," he says, and Kara can hear Alex mumble her acknowledgment. "I have to tell you something." 

"Oh?" And Kara can imagine Alex's raised eyebrow. "What?"

Jeremiah sighs. "Just, promise you won't be angry."

"I can't promise anything, Dad."

A pause. "We're sending you to Ireland, with Kara."

Oh Rao. Oh  _Rao._  Alex's heart rate picks up and Jeremiah backs away from her. "You're what?"

"We're--"

"You're  _what_?"

"Alex--"

"First you make her my sister, then you tear me away from my friends, for  _her_?"

"Alex!"

"Oh my God, Dad! I'm not going! I don't care, if--"

Kara tunes out, then. She doesn't want to hear any more of Alex's wrath. She already knows how much this will weigh on their relationship. 

Jeremiah leaves Alex's room and makes his way downstairs, where she can hear Eliza is waiting with bated breath. Jeremiah sighs as he reaches her. 

"She's not happy," he says.

"Well, that's to be expected." 

"It's for her own protection, as well as Kara's. Cat told us about her overload. We don’t need Kara being expelled again because she can’t handle her environment.” 

Kara flinches. Draws herself into a ball. 

"Plus, I'm an agent now. Who knows what danger could come to our doorstep, especially with Lex Luthor's ongoing rampage against aliens." 

Lex. Lena's brother. 

"I just hope she'll understand." 

* * *

Alex doesn't talk to her on the drive to the airport, the flight or the taxi trip to the school. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :( alex
> 
> to be honest in all honesty ? i would absolutely put lucy and kara together if this weren't a supercorp fic. anyway. i hope that was okay! i think that from here on there will be a lot more stuff about kara and lena's lives outside of each others and i do plan for j'onn to reveal himself pretty soon. mm. see you!


	8. friend?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena recalls Lionel's death, meets Alex and makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! it's not sunday! very sorry for the late update but couldn't find time to just sit down and write, you know? anyway, here it is. a little short but that's because i guess for the most part this is filler? 
> 
> thank you to freckledfawn for helping me make the slight adjustments to the previous chapter(s) !!! 
> 
> a little angst near the end, hastily written and not double checked, but enjoy!

_She knows Lionel has heart problems. She was a fool to have not seen this coming._

_Lena sits by his hospital bed, clutching his hand. It's a little clammy, a little cold but she refuses to loosen her grip. Some part of her believes that if she let's go, he'll die._

_Lex is sitting next to her, highlighting a textbook and mumbling under his breath. She wishes he'd shut up but it's probably his way of coping, just as Lillian's way of coping is sitting outside this room, checking in on Lionel's business contacts, his will. Just in case._

_Lena studies Lionel's face. It's pale, but not as pale as it had been when she'd first walked in, an hour after he'd stabilised. She's always noticed the slight similarities between them; the cheekbones, the jaw, the fold of his lips are so alike to her own. She liked to fantasize about him being her real, biological, flesh and blood father, even if Lillian insisted adamantly that he wasn't. It was strange, how desperate she seemed when she told her._

_She rubs her thumb over the back of his hand, reassured by the soft beat of a pulse she feels. He's not quite out of the woods yet, the doctors had said, but she allows herself to feel a little hope._

_She clings onto that hope long after she's returned home after visiting hours are over; falls asleep with hope clutched in her arms, hope blanketing her._

_And it's betrayal, she feels first when the phone call comes._

_He passed away in the night. Nothing they could do._

_How dare hope make her believe that he'd be okay, how dare she be stupid enough to believe he's come home, tell her he was fine and that he'd hold her when she cried in relief._

_Lex turns to anger, storming up to his room. She hears him throw his furniture around; glass breaking._

_Lillian hardly flinches. In fact, she's completely impassive as she puts the phone back in its stand, fixes the strand of hair that had fallen out of her bun, and returns upstairs to presumably go to sleep. When, what Lena really wants, more than anything in the world is physical comfort from her family. A hug from Lex, a touch on the arm from Lillian. It's not much to ask._

_Instead, she wraps her arms around her torso, makes her way back to her room and buries herself in her covers in a desperate attempt to fall back asleep._

* * *

Lena blinks, her vision refocusing on the book in her hands as the door opens. It’s been a long, lonely 2 weeks with hardly anyone else staying over for winter break, and she feels her heart flutter at the idea that Kara is back. 

And she is; back, that is. With another person in tow. 

A taller girl with hair that reaches her jaw, curling at the ends. Her eyes are brown and angry, and her posture is tense.

Lena raises from her bed, gaze flicking from the stranger to a familiar face. Kara. It had been so peculiar without the blonde’s presence, her constant snacking, reading, talking. Lena refuses, however, to accept that she missed her. 

“Lena!” 

Kara grins, her nose scrunching up as she wraps her arms around Lena. Oh. _She’s hugging me_. Once the realisation sits in, after a moment or two Lena awkwardly returns the hug, making eye contact with the stranger, who’s glaring. Lena feels a surge of, possessiveness maybe, and she hugs a little tighter. 

“Lenaaa! I missed you so much! My room was so quiet without you! Thank you for the presents! Your hair smells great!”

Lena falters at the barrage of high pitched exclamations and lets go of Kara, even if a small (very, very large) part of her wishes to hold on for longer. “Kara,” she says, and it’s all she _can_ say. 

“Lena! This is Alex,” Kara nudges Alex’s shoulder and her smile drops, almost imperceptibly when ‘Alex’ barely responds. “My sister.”

Oh. Lena feels herself relax. 

“Nice to meet you,” she fixes a smile on her face, extends her arm but drops it when Alex makes no move. “I’m Kara’s roommate.”

Alex and Kara share a look that Lena can’t quite decipher, although. Alex looks a little pissed, cautious, while Kara looks almost… pleading. Lena shakes herself of her thoughts and gives another prize winning smile, for some reason feeling the need to impress Kara’s sister. 

Kara turns to her again, smiles brightly. “I’m just gonna drop off my suitcase, and I’ll probably be gone most of the day. Gotta acclimate the sister and all. See you!” She touches Lena’s forearm very briefly with the tip of her fingers, and disappears. Lena blinks to ground herself again. 

She finds that she has to do that very often around Kara, now. 

Toeing her shoes on she heads for Veronica’s room, deciding that being alone reading her book doesn’t sound very fun anymore. She hasn’t talked to Veronica all winter, or her friends, instead choosing to silently spectate the ongoings of the group chat. 

She knocks on Veronica’s door gently as a warning, and walks in. Siobhan is there, but Leslie isn’t and Veronica’s on her stomach, kicking her legs in the air. 

“Hi,” says Lena, pursing her lips. 

“Hey Luthor,” says Siobhan, and it’s chilling how similar the intonation is to Veronica’s.

Veronica, who hasn’t acknowledged her presence and is instead picking at her nails. 

How strange. Lena doesn’t dwell on it though, and moves to sit beside Siobhan on her bed, taking off her shoes in one fell swoop. She notes that she needs to change her socks sometime soon. 

It’s awkwardly quiet. Siobhan is scrolling through her Instagram feed and Veronica is still picking at her nails, and Lena watches the thumb nail dig under another, unearthing some dirt. Gross. 

She hides her shudder with a, “you guys are quiet,” to which Veronica finally looks up. 

“Hm,” she says, eyes narrowed. Lena immediately feels unnerved. “I’m just thinking.”

Lena takes the bait. “About what?”

“Kara.”

Lena hums. “Oh?”

“Yeah, that bitch.”

“She’s not a bitch, Veronica,” she sighs.

“She’s not? I’m inclined to disagree.”

Lena’d love to hear what Kara had done that was bitchy, if she’s even capable of such a thing. Lena doesn’t think there’s even a mean bone in her body. “Do tell.”

“Well,” Veronica pauses, thinking, “she’s always eating like, 5 servings of food at every meal. How inconsiderate of her is that? And—she _pretends_ to hide behind this innocent, quirky facade when in reality I bet she hates everybody in this school. I bet—she was transferred here because she like, burned down her old school or something. Because she’s just that type of person.”

Lena clenches her jaw. “Firstly, there’s plenty of food at this school that they throw about half of it away. Secondly, when the hell has she ever suggested that she hated anyone? Even you?”

“And the arson?”

Lena rolls her eyes. “Shut up, Veronica. You’re just making stuff up. I’m—“ she sighs, “I’m going to go.”

With a stilted goodbye, Lena leaves and returns to her dorm to pick up her bag, deciding that she’d rather unwind with some light bookstore browsing having finished Kara’s present within a few days. 

* * *

Lena buys 3 books that should tide her over for a week or two if she reads especially slowly, and makes the spontaneous decision of eating lunch at Noonan’s instead of the cafeteria. A vegan muffin and coffee is what she gets, and she makes her way to the rear end of the café. She takes a sip of her coffee; too hot. 

Her initial plans to start digging into her new books are dashed when thoughts of Kara start to swirl.

She’s not quite sure _what_ they are. Roommates, yes. Acquaintances, yes. Friends? 

Lena blows on her coffee as she considers this. Friends. She’s hesitant to label them as such, but surely texting everyday throughout winter break, going shopping, recommending books all constitutes friendship. 

And then, a rather sad thought crosses her mind; she’s not quite sure what a friend even is. 

Veronica and her are friends, she supposes. As are Leslie and Siobhan. But her relationship with Kara differs greatly to the relationship Lena has with them. She tests the temperature of the coffee with the tip of her tongue. Still too hot. 

She’s never had a conversation about what they are, with Kara. She guesses, normal people never have to. And she wonders very briefly, if Kara even likes her at all. If her acts of kindness have been more out of pity than anything else. For all she knows, Kara may hate her. 

Alex, Kara’s sister certainly hates her, judging from the glare and the crossed arms. Perhaps, unlike Kara, she knows who she is. A Luthor. 

Lena just hopes she doesn't get in the way of Kara and her’s budding… friendship. 

Speak of the devil; Kara and Alex have just entered, with Lucy as well. 

Shrinking in her seat does little to hide herself from Kara’s all seeing gaze, and the blonde lights up when she sees her, arm lifting high above her head in a wave. Lena gives a smaller wave in return. 

Before she knows it, the three of them have joined Lena in her corner and are making themselves at home; bags, coats, strewn over the back of seats. Lena just offers a small smile, and then another one. More confident this time, remembering who she is and who raised her.

“Lena! Is it okay if we sit here?” Kara asks, already sitting down.

“Of course,” Lena nods. “And your friends.”

“Thanks,” says Kara, nudging Alex with her elbow to get her to sit down. She looks very reluctant, but does so anyway, avoiding Lena’s gaze. Hm. 

“Hey, I’ll get drinks. Usual, Kara?” _So they come here often_ , Lena concludes. “Alex?”

“I’ll just have a coffee, thanks.”

Lucy shoots them both winks and Kara grins back as the shell of Alex’s ears turns a slightly darker shade of pink.

It’s awkwardly quiet, despite the chatter of other customers nearby. Lena clears her throat as Kara takes her mug of coffee and brings it to her mouth. 

“It’s too hot—!“

Kara’s nose wrinkles when she tastes it, miles from the outburst Lena had expected. “Gross. Black.”

She watches as Kara sets the cup down like it _wasn’t_ hot enough to burn off the human tongue, furrowing her brow and tearing a piece of her muffin off. “Sure.” A brief dip of her finger in her coffee confirms that it should have at least scalded Kara’s mouth.

Alex is looking at her with narrowed eyes, so Lena looks back. Kara looks between them, back and forth.

“Do you have a problem with me?” Lena asks. 

“Maybe.” Alex looks to Kara. “You haven’t heard about the Luthors?”

_Of course._

“Alex!”

“What?”

“Just because she’s a Luthor—“

“You know what her brother has done. What he—“ she drops to a whisper, “ _thinks_.”

“No. We’re not talking about this! It’s wrong to judge people by their last names.”

Lena feels herself boil with anger at Alex’s accusations, while simultaneously flooding with elation at hearing Kara defend her. “Thank you, Kara,” she says, just as Lucy returns. 

The rest of the afternoon is spent with idle chatter, Kara going up for more tuna melts and Alex’s poorly hidden distrust of her. Nonetheless, Lena finds herself relaxing a little in the presence of Kara and her friends, sipping slowly at her cooling coffee, thoughts of Kara’s seeming immunity to hot temperatures fading to the back of her mind. 

* * *

It’s the end of the day and Lena’s about halfway through her first book, (so much for reading slowly, huh) and Kara is aggressively tapping away at her phone. 

“Who are you texting?” Lena asks, and almost detracts it when she’s met with a glare. The glare drops quickly, however and is replaced by exhaustion. 

“Sorry—uh. My cousin, Clarke.. He’s being a bit of, um. An ass.”

“Kara Danvers, cursing? Not even when pigs begin to fly.”

“It doesn’t count as a curse!” She insists adamantly. “It’s a body part. Just, not a very nice body part.”

“Whatever you say,” hums Lena, and watches as Kara returns to her texting. She wonders what this Clarke could have possibly done to receive Kara’s wrath. 

* * *

Lena huffs as she brings her flat palm down on her phone to silence its ringing. Monday morning. Back to school. 

If she opens her eyes, with her bleary short sighted vision she can see that someone vaguely Kara looking is tying her shoe laces, already in her uniform. Whoever this imposter is, is doing a poor job of pretending to be Kara, who never ever ever wakes up early, ever. 

“Who are you?” Is what Lena mumbles as she pulls back her covers. “What have you done to my roommate?”

“Lena!” Oh. It’s not an imposter, Lena realises at the high pitched greeting. She fumbles with her glasses and she’s 100% certain that it’s Kara, now, with her blonde hair and thick glasses and startlingly blue eyes. 

“Why are you…” Lena frowns, “dressed? I thought you only wake up with the sun.”

Kara blushes and looks down, “Yeah I guess I do, but I have to get up early to take Alex around. Plus, I heard a rumour that there’s bacon for breakfast and you know how quickly that disappears!” 

“Sure,” Lena says. It’s 6:15 , and the cafeteria doesn't open for at least another half hour.

“Bye!” Kara waves at her and grabs her bag, making a quick exit. 

Lena collapses back onto her bed. 

* * *

Her first lesson is maths, which she can’t really complain about except she didn’t sleep great last night; her shoulders are a little tight and she can’t see all that well. A new prescription for her contacts is in dire need. 

She sets her bag down next to her seat beside Veronica, offers a polite greeting and removes her textbook and pencil case. The teacher is yet to arrive and Lena’s left to her thoughts, wondering why Veronica, and Leslie aren’t talking to her. 

Maybe she’s mad because Lena left the other day, even though it’s not like Veronica to care so much about her presence, _or_ absence. 

“Veronica?” Lena begins, tapping the end of her pen against Veronica’s elbow lightly. Veronica doesn’t look up from her textbook. “Veronica.”

Still no answer. She must be really pissed for Lena to be receiving the silent treatment, and Lena sits back in her seat. “Ronnie?” 

Veronica stills for a brief second, but gives no other indication that she’s even acknowledged Lena’s presence. Whatever. She’ll get over it.

Her gaze falls onto Kara, sitting near the front besides Lucy, who’s laughing. A part of her yearns to hear their conversation.

* * *

Lena sets her tray down opposite Veronica this time because Siobhan appears to have taken her seat. Alright. 

She takes a bite of her salad, the crunch of a crouton awkwardly loud in comparison to the silence of their table. It appears her friends have taken a vow not to talk to her. It hurts, to be isolated like this, and what she wishes was anger but is instead worry and sadness begins to fill her chest. Lena takes another bite of salad to push away her alarm, willing her heartbeat to slow. _They’re not kicking me out, are they?_

Lena takes a sip of her water and directs her gaze to Veronica, turning it from inquisitive to piercing. She _will_ get answers, even if she feels a little like crying. 

“What’s your problem?”

Veronica stills, but doesn’t answer. 

“Veronica,” Lena calls, then scoffs. “This is _so_ mature of you.”

She purses her lips and then finally, “I saw you two, at the party.” Lena furrows her brow; nothing particularly exciting happened between them if she remembers correctly. “On the couch.”

“…What about the couch?”

“Sitting, thigh to thigh? Talking?”

Lena blinks. If she concentrates really hard, she thinks she has a foggy memory of it. “Yeah.”

“Look, I don’t know why you’re hanging out with that freak but you’ve got to cut it out. I didn’t mention it ‘till now because I didn’t think it was a problem, but yesterday proved me wrong.”

“That _freak_?” Lena lifts an eyebrow, hiding the anger suddenly swirling in her gut. “That’s not very nice.”

“I said what I said. She’s strange. Doesn’t fit in. Almost like she’s from another planet,” Veronica laughs, “and most importantly, she’s not cool.”

“Wow, not cool, huh. How very middle school of you.”

Veronica grits her teeth. “Shut up, Luthor. You know she’s not in the same social circle as us, even if she’s getting close to Mike.”

“Mike?” Lena swallows. 

“Yes, who knows what’s been going on all winter. Especially with Mike’s personality and their so called, _connection_.” Lena schools her expression to one of indifference, feeling her palms begin to moisten as she watches Veronica watch her. 

“Right,” she says, like she knows what she’s on about. Kara hadn’t mentioned Mike at all to her. 

“What I’m saying is, she’s lame. She’s not important, and she’s dampening our image, okay? Ditch her.”

“ _Ditch_ her?” Lena’s eyes widen, “No!”

“Why the fuck not? Why are you so—mushy, with her?”  She can see that Veronica’s getting riled up, and she files it away for later.

“Why not? She’s nice.”

“Am _I_ not nice?"

Lena stills. “What?”

“Fucking hell. Just—ditch her. Or we’ll ditch you.” Veronica furiously returns to poking at her pasta, and Lena looks to Siobhan for help. She receives none. 

“You can’t—“ Lena clears her throat to distract from the pure fear she’s suddenly feeling, “you can’t just—“

“I can, and I am.”

All her efforts, trying to fit in with this crowd, sacrificing her vows to distance herself from her mother, are all teetering on the edge. 

“I—don’t understand. Why do you care so much about her?”

“That’s not important. What _is_ important, is who you choose. A freak you hardly know, or the best group of friends you’ve had for the past two years. The _only_ friends you’ll have for the rest of your high school career.”

Lena clenches her jaw. Looks down at her plate. 

Veronica’s right. Kara and her aren’t even friends, yet. And this group has been here for her for so long, and, she can’t just give them up for the first person that treats her nicely, can she?

Her previous doubts about Kara’s feelings towards her reemerge; she’s doing it out of pity. She doesn’t _really_ like her. 

“Fine.” Lena swallows. “We were never even friends to begin with.”

* * *

Lena has avoided Kara all day. She went to the library instead of coming back to her dorm after her last lesson, didn’t look at Kara once during dinner but she doesn’t have a choice in coming back before curfew, now. 

Thankfully Kara’s not here. Probably brushing her teeth, or showering. 

Lena sits down on the edge of her bed and puts her bag at her feet. It had been harder than she’d initially thought, avoiding Kara. She’s gotten so used to her presence that her _not_ being there was weird, and it’s going against almost every fibre of Lena’s being. Except, of course, the fibre that’s telling her she’s nothing without Veronica. 

Lena rubs her face, and zips open her bag. She’d like to get at least a portion of her homework done, and she’s rummaging for her maths book when the door opens and in comes Kara. 

Her hair is dark, wet, and held up by a towel, and she’s wearing her typical sushi pyjamas. Lena returns to trying to find her homework. 

“Lena?”

Lena stills for the briefest of moments but refuses to look at her. The guilt would be too much. God, she’s so selfish. 

“Lena. Are you avoiding me?” Her tone is a hybrid of sad, betrayed, yet understanding and open. It tugs at Lena’s heart. “What’s going on?”

She sees Kara’s feet move over to her desk and hears what she presumes is her shower supplies placed gently on the surface. 

_Where’s that_ damn _homework?_

“Have I done something wrong?” 

Lena doesn’t answer, again. 

She doesn’t find her homework, but she finds a book and she flicks to a random page, staring at the words but not absorbing them. Kara comes closer. 

“Lena?” A hand is waved in her face. “Lena. Please tell me what’s wrong?” Lena inhales shakily, but still doesn’t look up. 

Kara kneels at her feet, and puts her chin on Lena’s knee. 

_Oh my God._

She can feel Kara looking up at her, and her hands have wound themselves around Lena’s ankle.

“I don’t like it when you ignore me, you know. What’s wrong, Lena? Please?”

Her heart is panicking at the close proximity, and Lena feels her palms begin to sweat against the cover of the book. 

Finally, her resolve breaks, and she looks at Kara right in the eye. 

It’s a mistake, obviously. Kara is looking at her with so much _concern_ , like she’s genuinely worried for Lena’s health, or something. And her eyes; blue, piercing, Lena can’t look away from them. She feels her breathing quicken. 

“I—“ Kara’s mouth falls shut, and Lena stares at the crinkle in her brow. “Look. Obviously I want to know what’s bothering you, if _I’m_ bothering you, but if you really don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.” A weak smile reaches her lips, “Just, know you _can_ tell me, okay? I’m here. I’m your _friend_.”

Lena blinks and breaks eye contact. Pushes Kara away. She doesn’t know how to handle this.

She takes in a deep breath, refusing to look at Kara’s hurt expression and climbs into her bed, tossing her book onto her nightstand.

A deep, deep part of her knows she doesn’t need Veronica and the protection and the status and the company that comes with being her friend. But another, deeper part of her tells her that she couldn’t make it. That, she’ll be all alone. That Kara isn’t really her friend. 

So, when Kara calls her name a final time, Lena rolls over to face the wall and squeezes her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to fall asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :'( oh, lena.   
> not to worry !! this will be resolved soon as well as lena's confidence issues. on top of that, veronica will be dealt with :) 
> 
> again, apologies for the late update n i'm sorry to say this might not be a one off :/ not sure when i'll be able to write next.
> 
> thanks for reading ! see you next time!


	9. friend!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara talks with Mr. J'onnzz, Leslie, Alex and Veronica, and then finally Lena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! been over a week since the last update, sorry! got a little stuck halfway through n I'm still not entirely happy with it but oh well!
> 
> i hope you enjoy :)

“I just! I don’t understand,” says Kara, putting her head in her hands. There’s another two minutes until her history lesson starts, so obviously she’s using it to vent to Lucy. 

“Why don’t you just ask her?”

“I’ve tried. She just—ignored me.” Kara huffs, giving Lucy a forlorn look and wishing she could read minds, or something. What good is being able to fly when she can’t know what’s bothering Lena? “It has to be something _I’ve_ done.”

“You? Do something wrong? Not in a million years,” Lucy nudges her with her elbow. “Just give her time and she’ll come to you. I bet you 15 bucks.”

Kara scoffs, “firstly, I’ve done plenty wrong,” and she takes a brief moment to think back to her old school, the lives she’d endangered, the property she’d destroyed, “and secondly, I don’t _have_ 15 bucks. I used it all on presents.”

“Of course you did,” Lucy laughs, “fine. Why don’t you do some detective work?”

Kara tilts her head, confused. 

“You know? Like, look around for clues.”

“What, are following muddy footsteps going to give me answers?”

“No babe,” Lucy rolls her eyes, “I mean, like her diary, or something. Talk to her friends, I don’t know.”

“I can’t read her diary! That’s a terrible thing to do. Also, her friends are intimidating.”

Lucy lifts an eyebrow and hums. “What about Leslie?”

“Leslie?”

“You don’t know who Leslie is?”

“Well, no.”

A pause. “Oh, she’s the blonde. You know, the one that always hangs out with Veronica, Lena and Siobhan?”

“Oh!” Kara blinks, suddenly struck with the epiphany. “Oh! I know her! Well—I don’t _know_ her but. Hm. I’ve always wondered what her name was.”

Lucy laughs, “Well now you know. Anyway, you should talk to her. She’s… nice-ish. You’d probably have a better chance of getting something out of her than the rest of them.”

Kara smiles and knocks her shoulder against Lucy’s gently, “thank you! You’re the best. Now I know why I keep you around.”

“Ha! And I thought it was my charming disposition.”

Kara opens her mouth to give a response when someone’s throat clears, suddenly. She turns to the front of the room and Mr. Jonnzz is there, and Kara practically sprints to her regular seat next to Siobhan after finally realising she’s in the wrong seat. 

“Anyway,” Mr. J’onnzz begins, giving Kara a look that he _always_ gives her at the beginning of _every_ class like he’s trying to figure her out, and launches into the lesson. 

They’ve started a new topic so they really only summarise it, J’onnzz promising them they’d go much further into Stalin as the term progressed, making Kara giddy with excitement. Her attitude to sciences and essay based subjects have always been wildly different. She knows everything there is to know about atoms and electrons and currents, more than any human could even fathom but when she’s in Mr. J’onnzz’s or her English Literature lessons, she’s actually _learning._

The period ends relatively quickly with Kara’s rapt attention, and before she knows it the bell has rung and everyone has started packing up. She finishes the last of her notes and packs up as well, shooting Lucy a thankful look as she waits for her. 

She moves to the door with Lucy by her side when suddenly J'onnzz calls, "Ms. Danvers. If you could stay behind, please."

Kara stops mid-step, shares a confused glance with Lucy and then says, "Sure." She waves bye to Lucy and she waves back, and then the door closes.

J'onnzz rounds his desk and sits on it, arms folded as he considers Kara. Kara shifts on her feet.

"Ms. Danvers, you are quite the curiosity.”

Alarm bells start ringing in Kara's ears, and she hastily responds with, "what! No, I'm--I'm as normal as they come. There's nothing curious about me."

He stares at her, gaze flicking between her eyes as if searching for something, but upon finding nothing he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "There must be a reason," he mutters, and if not for her super hearing she wouldn't have caught it.

Kara takes a timid step forward, hands wringing. "What, if I may ask, is so curious about me? I'm really quite average."

J'onnzz pauses and turns to her, frown still on his face. "You are the absolute opposite. Ms. Danvers--who are you, exactly?"

She falters, then. "I don't understand. I'm--I'm Kara Danvers. Your student. I take history, I wear glasses, I like pecan pie."

He shakes his head. "No. You're more than that."

 _Oh gosh_. Does he know? Does he suspect? Kara gulps and plays with the frayed edge of her blazer, barely resisting the urge to blast out of the door and never look back."I assure you--"

"Stop! Stop, with the--the _denial_! Even if I can’t read—" he huffs and closes his eyes briefly, "Just. Tell me the truth. What are you?"

Kara's eyes widen and she takes a step back. "What am I? I'm--I'm a human. A girl human. I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to tell me who you really are. Have you been sent here to kidnap me?" He takes a menacing step towards her, "to _kill_ me?"

“What--!"

" _Have you_?"

Kara's mouth opens and closes. 

"Answer the question, Ms. Danvers."

"No! I haven't been sent here to kill you!" Kara exclaims, eyes still as wide as saucepans, "Oh my—Why would someone be trying to kill you?"

He stops in his advance towards her and resumes his folded arm stance. "No reason. I'm--I'm normal."

_Wait a second. He just repeated what I said to him, and I'm an--_

Kara gulps, "are you? Normal?"

"Yes. Of course. Anything else is preposterous."

Kara takes a step towards him, now. "Has Ms. Grant told you anything?"

"Why would she tell me anything?"

"Who are you, Mr. J'onnzz? And, as you asked me: _what_ are you?"

His breathing becomes quick and shallow and he walks back to his desk chair. Sits down. ”Ms. Danvers. I ask that you leave, now. I expect your essay due next week—“

"With all due respect Mr. J'onnzz," Kara begins, placing her hands on his desk looking down at him, "I can't leave. Not--now. Not after you might be a--" Kara swallows and breaks eye contact. "Never mind," she says instead. 

It's too risky. With Mon-el, she was lucky but she doesn't want to take that chance again. She turns to leave, but J'onnzz stands, chair screeching as it's pushed backwards. 

"Wait, Ms. Danvers," he calls, and Kara turns around. "Where were you born?"

"I--" She sucks in a breath, "I was born on--in, Ukraine. I was, um, a refugee."

"Born _on_ Ukraine?"

"I meant 'in'."

"Did you?"

Kara's breathing suddenly quickens, and she can hear J'onnzz's heartbeat quicken as well. "Of course."

He looks away, turns his head to the side like he's debating with himself ferociously. A deep wrinkle collects at his brow, as well as one around his lips. "I--" he shuts his mouth, then tentatively opens it again, "I'm taking a great risk, telling you this. I wouldn't, if I did not have my suspicions."

Kara swallows, all thoughts of escaping suddenly disappearing into thin air. "Suspicions?"

"You're not of this earth, are you, Ms. Danvers?"

It's more of a statement than a question, and she gulps again. She opens her mouth to immediately refute his accusation, but something stops her. Maybe, it's the glint of hope in his eye. Maybe, it's his heartbeat; an excited, scared fluttering. Maybe, it's that she's just so sick of _lying_. 

A long pause passes until she can gather the courage to answer him truthfully. She takes a deep breath. ”No, I'm not." She breathes out, shakily. "Are you?"

He shakes his head, arms falling to his sides. "No."

A thick silence enters the room all of a sudden, thoughts of escaping return despite knowing there is no looming threat. _He's just like me._

"If I may ask," she begins, biting her lip, "how did you know?"

He clenches his jaw, and pauses to consider his next words. "I can read minds."

The first place her mind goes to is Lena, wondering if he could help her in some way, but then she realises that's awfully invasive and that she has another question. "So you knew already? You didn't have to ask?"

"No. I had to ask because I—can't read yours."

"You can't... you can't read my mind.

"No."

Kara blinks. "Why not?"

"I'm not sure. But it made you stand out the moment you walked into this room."

"I..." she's at a loss for words, and she furrows her brow. "I don't understand." She decides to return to her initial point of confusion, "you can read minds? How?

"It is a power my race holds. We are…” he sighs, trying to find the right words, “interconnected. But, not anymore I suppose.”

Kara looks up at him, "why?"

A torn look crosses his face and Kara regrets asking. "I'd rather not discuss this right now," he looks past her shoulder to the glass window in the door behind her. "Besides, my next class is here. You should get going, Ms. Danvers."

Kara nods hurriedly and smiles at him, trying to convey her apology with her eyes. He returns a look of understanding, and satisfied with that she turns and leaves, knocking into a few particularly eager students on the way. 

She stands in the middle of the hall for what feels like hours, heart pounding, head pulsing at the realisation that her history teacher is an alien. Just like her. 

She blinks back a sudden onslaught of tears, just as she catches a flash of blonde hair: _Leslie_. 

Leslie’s just gone into a bathroom and any thoughts of her next lesson fly out of the window in favour of confronting her and getting to the bottom of what’s wrong with Lena. 

Pushing the door open she storms in to see Leslie applying a fresh coat of lipstick, apparently not having seen her yet. A few seconds pass, Kara still invisible to her when she finally clears her throat and Leslie jumps. 

“Oh my God,” she breathes, hand clutching her chest, “you scared the fuck out of me.”

Kara frowns. “Don’t swear. Also; I have some questions that you’re going to answer.”

She puts her hands on her hips and widens her stance, an expression of raw determination crossing her face. 

Leslie takes a step back. “Uh. Shoot, I guess.”

Oh. That was easier than expected. She takes her stance down a notch, although keeps her hands on her hips. “Um,” she pauses, “okay. Why isn’t Lena talking to me? Have I done something wrong?”

A look of recognition flits past Leslie’s eyes and Kara barely manages to catch it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kara resumes her intimidating stance. “Yes, you do. Did I do something wrong? Did I say something accidentally mean? Why does she hate me?”

“She doesn’t—“ Leslie sighs, like she’s debating with herself, “she doesn’t hate you.”

Kara deflates. “She doesn’t?”

“No.”

“Then why? Why won’t she talk to me?”

Leslie bites her lip, turns to face the mirror and puts her hands on the sink. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’d be betraying Veronica.”

“So?”

“ _So_? She’s the most popular girl at this school.”

“I don’t care. Leslie, please.”

“I didn’t know you knew my name.”

Kara falters, “I do, of course I do. I’ve known since the first day.” Oh gosh, she’s lying. 

She pushes the guilt down as she sees Leslie’s walls begin to break. “I just… Do you know what could happen to me if she found out?”

“What?”

“I’d be cast out. Shunned. Thrown to the bottom of the ladder.”

Kara frowns. Says, “I’d catch you,” even if she doesn’t know what ladder Leslie is talking about.

“You would?”

“Of course. If you tell me what’s wrong.” Kara gulps at the guilt eating away at her already; she’d told Lena she’d be fine if she didn’t know, but she has to find out. Especially if it’s hurting Lena this much.

“You can’t tell anyone, okay?”

Kara sticks her pinky finger out, and Leslie hesitantly accepts it. “I promise.”

They drop their hands as Leslie takes in a shaky breath. “Veronica told her to.”

“What?”

“She said Lena had to choose between us, or you. And she chose us.”

Oh. 

Kara blinks. Her heart hurts a little. 

“It’s not that she doesn’t like you. Veronica she’s—very persuasive. She made it seem like you didn’t care about her, like if she chose you she wouldn’t have anything left.”

“And Lena believed her?”

Leslie sighs, “as I said, she’s very persuasive.”

Kara moves her jaw from side to side, “she doesn’t trust me.”

Leslie takes a step towards her and Kara takes a step back, unable to bear the closeness of another person. This reaction is unorthodox, but Kara can’t stop the tiny feeling of betrayal that’s twisting around in her gut. 

“She doesn’t trust herself.”

Kara looks at her, “I don’t understand.”

Leslie looks away like she’s debating with herself again. “You have to understand… Lena is like, _insanely_ susceptible to self-doubt. It’s not that she thinks you’re not trustworthy, it’s—like, she doesn’t consider herself worthy enough to be liked by you.”

Kara frowns, “but she is.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t think she is.”

“But…” Kara blinks, thinking. “Why wouldn’t she?”

“Look, I’ll admit that I’m not that close to Lena. We might be in the same circle but we like, never talk, so what I’m telling you might actually be like, completely off the mark. She probably has some family issues, like all the rich kids have. Shitty parents.”

Kara purses her lips to stop herself from calling out Leslie’s curse word, and continues. “Right.”

“Have you never had moments of… self doubt? Or thinking you’re not good enough for something?”

It clicks a little, then. Kara’s flooded with memories of herself, crying, wishing she wasn’t the one sent here to earth, with a redundant mission and a dead family. She had wished, so desperately that she was born in another family, into another life and that she’d blown up with the rest of Krypton, because, who was she to be worthy of surviving? She was just a little girl with important parents. 

 Kara takes a small step back to reconsider her attitude. “Yes, I have.”

“So you get Lena, now?”

“Kind of.”

“Awesome. Can you please leave? I have to reapply my mascara as well.”

Kara does as she’s asked feeling a little numb, only for her anger towards Veronica to return with a vengeance as soon as she crosses the threshold. How dare she! How dare she give Lena that ultimatum.

She clenches her jaw and heads straight for her art lesson, knowing that she probably won’t run into Veronica until lunch time. 

* * *

Veronica is nowhere to be seen, as with the rest of her group. It’s suspicious, but not enough for Kara to seek her out. Veronica will get what’s coming to her, even if it takes her a week to even find her. 

Kara is furious, and she’s aware it’s not good for someone holding such raw power to ever get angry so she just prays she’ll be able to keep herself in check, enough to scold Veronica but not hurt her. 

Huffing, she sets down her tray beside Alex starts on her pasta, denting the plastic a little with every stab of her fork. 

“Kara?”

Kara looks up. “Alex.”

“You look mad.”

“I am mad.”

Alex pauses, purses her lips as she considers her options. “Want to talk about it?”

“Um,” Kara chews the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know. Do you want to listen?”

“Not really, but I’d rather you not blow up the whole school because you’re a little pissed.”

“That’s not even what happened.” Alex raises an eyebrow. “No, I’m not going to blow up the whole school.”

“Good, ‘cause otherwise we’d be moving to Russia next.” 

Kara sighs, “I’m sorry that you had to come here too. You shouldn’t have to feel the consequences of _my_ mistakes.”

Alex clenches her jaw, “yeah, well. I am. I have a right to be angry with you.”

“Of course,” Kara tries for a smile, “I just—I’m sorry.”

“Yeah. Whatever. Talk to me about whatever’s making you angry, okay?”

“Well, Veronica kind of forced Lena into not being my friend anymore.”

“What?”

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know why, but Veronica gave her an ultimatum, and—“

“That bitch!”

Kara grimaces, but stops herself from calling out the swear, “yeah she’s… not very nice. And I wanted to have a talk with her about it but I can’t find her anywhere.”

“A talk?”

“Yes. What else?”

Alex shrugs, “Dunno. Kind of expected you to punch her in the face or something.”

“My fist would go through her skull.”

“Right.” Alex smacks her head, “forgot I had a sister with super strength.”

“Shh!”

“I’m teasing!” Alex smirks, “anyway. You’re really just gonna talk it out with her? Find the deep psychological reasons for her actions?”

“No, I just.” Kara sighs. “It’ll be better if we just talk it out than me like… dangling her over the roof of the building or something. Better for both of us. I don’t have any other choice.”

Alex looks away from her, taking a mouthful of her pizza. “I guess. Just, smack her down with your words, yeah?”

* * *

It’s dinner and Kara’s munching on a chicken leg, running through her Bullet Point List of Questions to Ask Veronica. 

She and her posse are sat at their usual table, chattering away, while Kara is plotting their leader's demise. Er, her stern talking to. 

She races her way through her meal and watches as the group make their way supposedly to their separate dorms but she remains seated. Partly because she has to wait for Lucy to finish eating, partly because she’s incredibly nervous. 

* * *

“Veronica!” Kara says as she pushes her way into Veronica’s dorm after seeing Siobhan leave, and puts her hands on her hips as Veronica blinks at her. “I have something to say to you.”

The girl in question raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Kara falters for a second at Veronica’s indifferent attitude, but powers on. “Yes. I do.”

Sighing, Veronica closes her book. “Get on with it, then.”

Kara takes a step forward. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Care to inform me of what exactly I have done?”

“You broke up Lena and I’s friendship!”

“You were never even friends to begin with.”

Kara pauses, “Well, she was my friend. We were on the way to being friends! And you stopped that!”

“Yes, I did.”

Her breathing begins to quicken, and she takes another step towards Veronica’s bed. Thinks back to her bullet point list. 

“Why?”

Without missing a beat, Veronica answers, “because you’re not good enough for her.”

“And you are?”

“Of course.”

“And—And what makes you so great, huh? Your perfect hair? Your cheekbones? Your wealthy parents?”

Veronica tilts her head up. “All of those, and more.”

“Well you’ve got a terrible personality. You’re—“ Kara sighs, “I just can’t understand how you could do such a thing. What’s so bad about me and Lena being friends? It doesn’t mean she’d stop being yours.”

An indecipherable look flickers past Veronica’s eyes. “Maybe it would.”

“But, if you’re so much better, why would she choose me?”

Veronica looks away, clenches her jaw. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t—I don’t understand.”

Veronica stands very suddenly, only a foot away from Kara. “It doesn’t matter that you don’t understand. What you _do_ need to understand is that Lena isn’t your friend. She’s mine!”

“She’s not just some—some _property!_ ”

Veronica slaps her. 

Or at least, she tries to.

Kara hardly flinches, watching her palm travel almost in slow motion to her cheek, sees the skin of her wrist shift as the bones break, hears the sickening snap resound in her ears. 

“Oh my God!” Veronica pulls away, clutching her arm with her other hand, “You broke my wrist!”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“Yeah well you _fucking_ did! _Fuck_ —!”

Kara can see tears rim Veronica’s eyes and it occurs to her, suddenly, that she’s really just a child still. Hasn’t experienced anywhere near the horrors that Kara has. Only a broken wrist is enough to draw tears, but then again she’s reminded that humans can be awfully fragile. 

Veronica pushes right past her and Kara starts to follow, only to be shoved back into the room. “Fuck off!”

(If Kara hadn’t let her, Veronica would have broken her other hand.)

She traces Veronica’s heartbeat all the way to the nurse’s office just in case she passes out, or something, and only when she knows she’s made it does Kara leave for her dorm. 

On the way, she sends a quick _veronica slapped me n she broke her wrist_ to Alex, and knocks on her own door before entering, nervously. She half expects Lena to somehow psychically know what had happened and also half expects her to start crying or shouting when Kara tells her. 

She takes a seat on her bed, opposite Lena who’s staring blankly at her book, glasses reflecting the dim light of her lamp. Kara knows she’s not really reading because her heartbeat had picked up as soon as she’d entered the room, and her eyes aren’t moving. 

“Lena,” Kara begins, and bites her lip when she’s given no outward response. Lena’s body temperature increases just slightly, as does her breathing. “I know why you’re not talking to me.”

Lena pauses in her faux reading but still doesn’t look at her. 

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. I went behind your back and asked and then I found out that Veronica was practically _blackmailing_ you so then I went to her dorm and we talked and she broke her wrist.”

Lena blinks. “How?”

“She hit me.”

“She broke her wrist, on your face?”

Kara turns bright red, “that’s not the important part! Veronica, she—she.” She closes her mouth, not really sure what to say. 

Lena thumbs the edge of the page, eyebrows drawn together. “You’re mad, aren’t you. That I chose Veronica over you?” A weak smile pulls at her lips.

Of course she’s a little mad, but the wetness of Lena’s eyes stop her from showing it. “No.”

Lena turns to her and gives her a sceptical look. 

“Fine. Maybe a little. But I understand why you did it. You didn’t really trust me, at least not more than someone you’ve been friends with for like, 3 years.”

Lena closes her book and quickly wipes at her cheek. “I don’t trust Veronica.”

Kara blinks a few times, “then why…?”

“I don’t know, I—“ She looks at her hands, “I just… I didn’t trust that you really wanted to be my friend, I guess. That you still do. I mean, after all this? Surely you don’t.”

“You underestimate me, Lena,” she says, going for a soft smile. 

There’s a lull, and Lena considers her words with a furrowed brow. “Back to my previous point: Veronica broke her wrist on your face?”

“Uhhh…”

“Did she punch you, or something?”

“She slapped me.”

“I’m so sorry—“

“It wasn’t you that slapped me.”

“I know, but. She’s my friend, or at least, was my friend. I don’t know what’s going to happen after this.”

“Well, do you want to remain her friend? I kind of, um, might have ruined any chances of that accidentally, just by confronting her. Sorry.”

Lena gives her a weak smile, worry lines across her forehead. “No, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. you chose her for a reason. What are you worried about?”

“Nothing,” and then, “her revenge. The safety and, and familiarity of her. I don’t know.”

“It’s perfectly fine to feel all that, you know.” Kara’s hands itch to hold Lena’s to offer some semblance of comfort. “It’s normal.”

Lena laughs without mirth, “is it? She’s a horrible person that doesn’t give a shit about anyone but herself. I should have never befriended her in the first place.”

“Why did you, then?”

Lena looks down at her hands; she’s picking the skin around her nails. “I don’t know. Loneliness? My innate need to please my mother? My craving for popularity and validation from my peers?”

“Uh,” Kara’s not really sure what to say.

“Sorry. I just—“ Lena sighs, “I guess I just have you, now.”

Kara feels a little hurt by the way she says it, but pushes it down. She knows Lena doesn’t mean it that way. “What about Leslie and Siobhan?”

“They were Veronica’s friends. Or, minions.”

“Well, you don’t just have me.” Lena looks up at her. “You have Lucy, and Vasquez, and Alex, too. They’re part of the package.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“I doubt you’re sister will be pleased about being friends with a Luthor.”

“I’ll… talk to her about it.”

“Sure,” Lena says, and the conversation wears thin. 

It’s fine, though, for Kara. She’s discovered another alien, found out Leslie’s name, uncovered Veronica’s evil plot and Lena and her are officially friends, now. All in a days work.

“I’m gonna, um, watch a movie. Do you want to join me?” Kara asks, pointing to her laptop on her nightstand. 

Lena looks down at her book, her bag, her book and then the laptop. “Okay.”

Kara feels her heart flutter in excitement. “Great!” She pulls the laptop to her and settles back on her pillows. “Here, sit with me,” she says, patting the space beside her.

Very awkwardly, Lena sits where she’s told to. The bed is pretty small so Kara is right up against the wall and their shoulders and legs are touching. 

“I’ve been wanting to watch this movie for ages,” Kara says, plugging in her earphones and handing one to Lena.

“I’m sure it’ll be great.”

It takes about half the duration of the film for Lena to finally relax against Kara’s side, and when she does Kara’s stomach flips at the feeling of her new friend melting into her. 

And, before the end of the movie, they’ve both managed to fall asleep upright against the headboard. 

* * *

When Kara’s eyes flutter open, her head is resting on Lena’s shoulders and Lena’s head is on top of hers.

It would be borderline uncomfortable if she were human, but she’s not so she takes a minute to enjoy the weight and the warmth of Lena’s body heat until she realises a line of her drool has fallen onto Lena’s uniform in her sleep. Gross. 

Kara pulls away as slowly as possible, but Lena wakes anyway. 

“Lena, uh, hey!”

Lena groans and rubs her eye, “What time is it?”

“I don’t know,” Kara says as she discreetly wipes at Lena’s blazer. “Can you move a little? My clock is next to you.”

Lena shuffles closer to Kara, flattening her body against her pillow and allowing Kara to stretch over her and turn the clock in her direction. 

“Oh,” she says. “We have 10 minutes.”

Lena practically teleports out of the bed and grabs her toothbrush, gasping. “Oh my God. Oh my God. 10 minutes? Until Physics? We’re going to be _murdered_!”

“It’s fine! This is fine,” Kara frantically pats her uniform down, “we’re already dressed. Just—we need to brush our teeth, apply deodorant and you need to put your contacts in and we’re fine!”

“Yes, okay!”

Lena speeds out of the room with Kara on her tail and they both get ready as quickly as humanly possible. They’re messy and Lena pokes her eyes in her many attempts to put her contacts in so they’re a little bloodshot by the time they make it to physics, a minute late. 

The teacher gives them both a stern look and nothing else, and Kara makes her way over to Lucy’s desk with a relieved smile in Lena’s direction. 

“Uh, what happened to you two? Tornado in your dorm?”

Kara laughs and tightens her tie, “um. Something like that.”

* * *

Kara loops her arms with Lucy and Lena’s who are on her right and left sides, respectively, as they walk to their History lesson. 

“So, basically,” Kara recounts, “the tornado was us as we were whirling around the room trying to find a spare set of contacts for Lena because she ruined like, 3 batches.”

Lena laughs, “uh, I’d say it was less whirling and more frantic stumbling. You tripped on your own bag. You dented the floor.”

Kara blushes, “I guess.”

“Jesus,” Lucy raises an eyebrow, “okay. Maybe next time don’t go to bed so late.”

“It wasn’t even late!” Kara defends, “it was like, 8:30. I don’t know why we woke up so late.”

“Whatever you say,” and Lucy sends a wink in Lena’s direction. Kara frowns, confused, and Lena looks straight ahead with tinged ears. 

Kara’s phone vibrates in her picket and she loosens her arm hold on her friends to retrieve it. 

“Hey, you two go on without me! I’ll catch up.”

Lena gives her a skeptical look but acquiesces anyway, Lucy right behind her. 

_mike at 09:58 : hey kara_

_mike at 09:58 : wanna come to a party this friday its at mine_

Kara weaves through the moving crowd and gets to safety by pressing her back against the lockers. 

_kara at 09:59 : uhh i dont know mike sorry !! i didn't have a lot of fun last time_

_mike at 09:59 : u can have fun this time! i got some more alien alcohol_

_kara at 09:59 : as i said, idk :/_

_mike at 09:59 : ok but just consider it ? ok? i’d rly like you to come so we can chat in person again bc i haven't seen you since_

_mike at 09:59 : u can invite ur friends_

_mike at 09:59 : and lena_

_kara at 10:00 : she’s not already invited?_

_mike at 10:00 : uhhhhhhhhhhhhhq veronica said not to_

_mike at 10:00 : but if u wanna invite her then u can_

_kara at 10:00 : sure i’ll come if lena can !!!! and lucy and vasquez_

_mike at 10:01 : dunno who vasquez is but sure see you there <3_

Kara returns her phone to her pocket, frowning at the heart emoji and makes her way to her lesson as quickly as she’s allowed. 

She’s two minutes late but when she goes to apologise to Mr. J’onnzz, he simply gives her a warm smile and an understanding look, and Kara suddenly remembers their discussion the other day. 

Kara smiles her thanks and moves to sit next to Lucy. It’s a riveting topic and she’s sucked right into the lesson, all throughout it sharing brief looks with Lena and Mr. J’onnzz. 

Lucy and her are making a mind map and she can hear Lena’s heartbeat and Mr. J’onnzz is marking some papers at his desk, and Kara thinks, maybe everything at this school will be okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again!  
> ok so idk how many parties popular kids go to per year but uh lets just say this much.  
> a bit stuck on what to include in lena's chapter so some ideas would be great! it's not the party chapter though!  
> in general i'm getting low on ideas actually. i've almost completed my list of things to include and everything else like, comes with time e.g. alex n kara mending their relationship, kara n lena realising their feelings etc......  
> see you!


	10. confidante

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena receives a shovel-ish talk from Alex, gets confronted by Leslie, texts Lex and chats with Kara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhh, how long has it been??? 2 weeks? sorry!!  
> just got very caught up w/ my holiday but i'm back home now! yeah it's a pretty short chapter but it's something, and the next chapter should be longer! again, sorry for the delay. enjoy!

Lena chews on the end of her pen, regarding Kara. 

They’re sat on their respective beds, facing each other cross legged as they comb through their most recent chemistry topic in preparation for their test tomorrow. Lena’s been firing questions at her study partner one after the other in rapid succession and Kara has been answering them flawlessly, despite her earlier claim of ‘oh no! I haven’t studied like, at all.’

“Did I get them all right?” Kara asks, eagerly.

Lena gives her a look, “well, obviously. You know this like the back of your hand.”

Kara frowns, “well I don’t know the back of my hand very well.”

“Never mind. What I’m saying is, you know it really well. It’s like, second nature to you.”

Kara blushes, “not really! At first it was hard because I didn’t recognise it.”

“And then, after you recognised it?”

Kara blushes a deeper red, “Uh, I remembered it all? I guess?”

Lena looks down at her work, bites her lip. “It’s like you’ve learned everything there is to know, and now you’re just going through high school for the hell of it.”

“The, um, heck of it. I’m not! I don’t know everything. I know hardly anything about the history of earth and English Literature. _You_ know everything.”

Lena rolls her eyes, “no I don’t.”

“Yes! You’re so smart and—“

The door swings open just as Kara’s presumably about to hit her with a barrage of inaccurate compliments, and in comes Alex. She looks a little pissed, but then again she always looks a little pissed. 

“Alex!” Kara exclaims, moving her folder to create a space beside her. “Come sit. What do you want?”

“Uh,” Alex shoots a look between Lena and Kara, “I don’t know. I was bored. I can go, though, if I’m interrupting.”

“No, of course not,” Kara chimes. 

Alex sits down next to her and levels Lena with a narrowed glance before looking down at Kara’s lap where her notes lay. “What are you working on?”

“Chem test, tomorrow,” Lena answers. “Your sister knows everything already.”

“Of course she does,” Alex hums. “Need any help?”

Kara flips through her sheets quickly, “Actually there’s this bit here that I can’t quite get my head around. It’s, familiar, but I can’t think of a translation.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll try explaining it to you, I guess.”

Often times when Kara and Alex are in the same room, there’s an undeniable underlying tension, like they’ve just returned from an argument or something, but as Lena watches Alex scribble some notes down the tension seems to just… melt away. 

“Alex wants to be a doctor,” Kara starts suddenly, looking up. “She’s super smart.”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Hm.”

Kara nudges her elbow into Alex’s side, gently, “what! It’s true, don’t deny it. Lena’s super smart, too.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she is. She is a Luthor, after all.”

“ _Alex_!”

“I meant it as a compliment! Her brother is like, at University and is probably gonna be a billionaire CEO once he graduates. Her dad, the CEO before him.”

Lena stiffens just slightly at the mention of her father but fixes a tight smile on to her face anyway. “Thanks, I guess.”

Alex nods. “Sure.”

A silence.

“Uhh,” begins Kara, “okay. I’m going to see if Lucy has any snacks. I’m really craving some sweets,” and off she goes out the door, leaving Lena and Alex in an awkward tension. 

About half a minute passes of avoiding Alex’s eye contact until the brunette grabs Kara’s notes and starts rifling through them, more to do something with her hands than of interest. Lena studies her cuticles.

“You know,” says Alex, continuing to peruse, “I don’t know why she’s friends with you.”

“Neither do I.”

A brief pause, “right. Well, you better not hurt her, or something, else I’ll break your fingers. Your family is pretty shitty.” She purses her lips, “I just hope you aren’t too.”

Lena looks up from her hands, “I’m certainly trying, and, um. I have no intention of hurting her.”

Alex kind of airily laughs, a short burst of amusement, “God, this sounds like a fucking shovel talk. I don’t care about Kara _that_ much,” she says as she rearranges Kara’s notes into a more organised pile. 

“I think you do. You might not be, um, biological sisters but you care about each other, a lot. Even I can see that,” says Lena, carefully dodging the mention of a shovel talk. Her and Kara dating? Preposterous. 

“Whatever.” Alex puts the notes down beside her in a huff, “just—be careful, yeah? She has a heart of gold, but gold is pretty fragile.”

The door swings open and at the same time comes, “guys! I got the sweets!” Kara swiftly makes her way to her original seat, already tearing into the packet, “so, what did I miss?”

Alex and Lena share a look and simultaneously agree that she won’t be finding out. 

“Nothing, just going over the bits I’m stuck on. And, uh, Alex rearranged your notes.”

* * *

Lena bites the inside of her cheek as she washes her hands, taking the opportunity for a quick toilet break between lessons. She’s a little tense about the test tomorrow so she’s rubbing her fingers into her palm a little too hard, and her shoulders are sore from her rigid posture all day. Nothing a good night’s sleep, and a few more hours of last minute revision won’t fix.

She hears the door open but pays it no mind, instead moving onto her left thumb, skin turning a soft red at the temperature of the water until someone coughs. 

At first she’s alarmed because, uh, germs, and then she’s doubly alarmed because behind her is Leslie, a hand on her hip and looking at her through the mirror. 

“Oh. Leslie.”

Leslie lifts her eyebrow, “Lena. What have you done?”

“What?” Lena turns off the tap but still doesn’t turn around, instead opting to reach for a paper towel, “Please, enlighten me.”

“I know you know.”

“Well, you’re mistaken.” Lena racks her brain, wondering what she could have possibly done to piss of Leslie who is by far the most mellow of their group. It can’t be her, er, detachment from Veronica, could it? She doubted either Leslie or Siobhan would care.

Leslie clicks her tongue, “fuck. Really? Kara didn’t tell you?”

“I know she confronted Veronica.”

“And Veronica’s hand is in a cast?”

“I assumed as much.” Lena tosses the paper towel in the bin and pauses for a second. “Is she okay?”

“She’ll be fine. She’s just whining a whole lot, and is in a bitch of a mood.”

“Why?”

Leslie gives her a look. 

“Right.”

“Anyway, Kara didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“That I was the mole? That I told her why you weren’t talking to her? So, you don’t hate me?”

Lena finally turns around, perplexed. “No, she didn’t… I don’t understand. Shouldn’t you care more about Veronica hating you?”

“Well, I am. But you’re both pretty popular. Approval from both Head Bitches in Charge would be nice, and—“

“I’m a HBIC?”

“Obviously. Why else do you think the crowd parts for you.”

“I… hadn’t noticed." She really hadn't. Maybe she'd always assumed it was Veronica that the crowd parted for, not her. Or, maybe it had become such a normal part of her school life that she'd blurred it out. 

Leslie rolls her eyes. “Of course. What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Veronica doesn’t hate me because she doesn’t know I was the one that told Kara, but she’s like, super in detective mode. She’ll find out, and when she does, Kara better stick to her promise of catching me.”

“Uh?” But before Lena can pose any further questions, Leslie has disappeared. 

Catching her? Kara, catching Leslie? What? 

She shakes her head, readjusts her hair and starts walking to her next lesson. 

* * *

It’s almost bedtime when she receives a text from Lex. What has it been, 3 weeks since they last talked? Lena wonders what he could possibly need. 

_Lex at 21:48 : Lena! How have you been? Haven’t talked in ages._

_Lena at 21:49 : I’m fine, thank you. How are you?_

Lena has half a mind to just end the conversation there and then, lest it turn to more questions about his impossible projects or his vendetta against Metropolis’s alien superhero. Something stops her, though. She’s curious.

_Lex at 21:49 : Oh I’m positively brilliant! Mother says LuthorCorp is rife with investors lately and she’s securing the final paperwork for me to take over as CEO in the coming years._

_Lena at 21:49 : I’m happy for you._

_Lex at 21:49 : That means a lot! Hey, maybe in 10 years time, you’ll be the CEO of LuthorCorp._

Lena blinks, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. 

She doesn’t know how to tell him that, as soon as she finishes university, she’s out. She’ll move away to Iceland, or somewhere. As long as she’s away from Lillian. 

_Lena at 21:50 : Maybe so._

_Lex at 21:51 : Phone call? I’d love to hear your voice._

She pauses as she recalls how their previous phone call had ended. 

_Lena at 21:50 : Sure._

Soon enough, Lex’s caller ID pops up and she answers it, timidly pressing her phone to her ear. She toys with the edge of her skirt. 

_“Lena! Hey!”_

Something’s a little odd about his voice. It’s chipper, like when they were younger. 

“Hello, Lex.”

_“Hello, Lex. Wow. You sound so serious.”_

His words are slurring. He’s drunk. 

“Lex—“

 _“Hey! Don’t Lex me. That’s my name. What? Anyway—“_ Lena pinches the bridge of her nose as she hears his desk chair move around. _“Uhh. Oh! Yeah. Found it. Okay, um, I have some questions about this thing.”_

Lena licks her lips and considers hanging up. 

“Lex…”

_“I said don’t ‘Lex’ me! And, I’m sorry I only talk to you when I need you, but. You’re so smart. You’re so much smarter than me, Lena. Hell, you beat me at chess when you were fucking 4.”_

She returns her phone to her ear. 

_“God—what was I saying? Yeah. It’s not working.”_

“I don’t care. I’m not helping you.”

A huff, _“why not? It’s for the betterment of mankind.”_ Lena’s stomach drops.

“Not necessarily, Lex.”

_“Yes necessarily! Superman is a direct threat to us. To me, to you, to your head teacher, to your—I don’t know, roommate? I don’t know. Fucking everyone, okay?”_

Lena hates that she almost considers his argument at the mention of Kara, but powers on. “Lex, please, shut up.”

 _“No! I can’t, I,”_ Lena strains to hear as Lex’s phone drops to the floor and he continues to mumble on, _“I have to save everyone. I have to! I have to, Lena. I have to kill him. I have to kill him—“_

The door opens and Lena quickly ends the phone call. It’s Kara, in her pyjamas and fresh from the shower.

“Oh hi, Lena,” says Kara, tilting her head, “what was that?”

“Nothing. Nothing important.”

“Um, sure,” Kara wrinkles her nose and finishes towel drying her hair as she sets her shower supplies on her desk. “whatever floats your boat. Ha. I learned that phrase from Lucy.”

“That’s great,” Lena discreetly puts her phone on her nightstand face down in case Lex calls her again. She doesn’t want Kara doing a 180 and deciding she’s just like the rest of her family. 

“Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right? We’re friends! Roommates! Best buds. Gal Pals. Whoever that was made you really angry, and sad. Sangry. Angad?” Kara pauses. “Uh.”

Lena laughs, “they did,” carefully manoeuvring past ‘gal pals’. “Are you sure? Like, you won’t run?”

“No! Of course not. Ride or die.” Kara smiles, “I learned that phrase from Alex. She’s always saying it into her phone. Ride or die.”

“Okay. It was—um. It was Lex.”

“Your brother?”

“…Yes,” says Lena, carefully gauging Kara’s reaction, which for the most part seems calm. 

“What were you talking about?”

Lena swallows, “Um. He was just, talking about one of his inventions. And, superman.”

Finally Kara gives a reaction other than positive, with the almost imperceptible tightening of her shoulders. 

“Oh,” she says. “Do you two talk a lot?”

Immediately, Lena is on the defensive. 

“Of course not! No. We don’t talk a lot. We don’t share the same ideals. I love Superman. Love that big ol’ S. I love aliens. He’s—We’re very different—“

“Lena!” Kara’s eyes widen and she raises her hands, “woah. I didn’t mean it like that, I just. Wanted to know if you’re close, is all.” She offers a reassuring smile.

Lena clears her throat in her embarrassment. “Right. Well.”

“Didn’t know you were such a huge fan of Superman.”

“Uh,” Lena blushes, “I’m not.”

“I mean, I get why. He’s tall. Uh. Has a funky outfit. Bright colours, makes him really stand out. He has nice hair, I guess. Healthy. Like he uses copious amounts of conditioner every time he showers,” Kara appears to have forgotten Lena’s there, eyes glazed over like she’s imagining Superman standing right here, in their dorm room. “Maybe a little too greasy for me, like he doesn’t completely wash the conditioner out, you know? Or maybe his hair just really is…” Kara grimaces, “greasy.”

“Uhh,” a beat, “he’s not really my type. I just thought, he does good things. Like saving people’s lives.”

“Right! Right.” Kara shakes her head. “So you don’t, like, crush him.”

"Have a crush on him."

"Oh. So you don't, like, have a crush on him."

Lena awkwardly laughs, resisting the urge to rub the back of her neck. “Yeah. _Really_ not my type.”

“Great. Cool. Awesome. Dandy—“

“Dandy?”

“—Peachy. So, what were you two talking about again?”

Lena blinks. Whiplash, from how quickly the topics are moving. “Um.” She thinks, “his inventions, and Superman. I already told you.”

“Right, of course. His inventions! Um, what about his inventions, in particular? If you don’t mind me asking,” Kara scrunches her nose up, like she’s still embarrassed. It’s endearing. 

“Sometimes I,” Lena doesn’t know how to say it without making it seem like she’s somehow Lex’s accomplice in his vendetta against the red caped hero, and she considers her words carefully. “I just… help him. A little. A tiny bit.” Lena presses her thumb and forefinger together to show just how minuscule the aid is, “the teeniest.”

Kara narrows her eyes, but Lena hopes it’s not as accusing as it seems. 

“So you’re like… really, really smart, then?”

“Uh…”

“Because from what I’ve heard about your brother, he’s smart. And if he needs your help? You’re even smarter.” Lena’s mouth opens and closes, desperate to say something self-deprecating. It’s always her instinct when she receives any form of compliment. Thanks Lillian. “What are his inventions for?”

Lena bites her lip. She really shouldn’t say. “I can’t…”

Kara leans a little forward and adjusts her glasses, offering a sweet sweet smile that sends Lena’s stomach into a choreographed gymnastics routine, teeming with summersaults and backflips. She swallows. 

“Lena…” Kara sweetens her smile even more, if that’s even possible. “I’m your friend! Friends like, share stuff. Don’t they?”

“Of course,” Lena clears her throat and rubs her suddenly sweaty palms on her thighs. “He hasn’t told me much, but he’s been very obsessed with taking out Superman, recently.” She thinks back to his drunken mantra of _I have to kill him I have to kill him_ and decides to omit that part, no matter Kara’s charms. “I didn’t know it had anything to do with him before I said anything, I swear. And this time I didn’t help him at all. Please believe me.”

“I believe you, Lena,” and Lena feels her heart rate slow down, just a little. Maybe part of it is because Kara’s ceased her captivating look.

“Thank you,” she breathes, and then suddenly panics. “You can’t tell anyone. He’d be—I don’t know. Something bad.”

“Of course!” Kara smiles, and there’s just the tiniest bit of overcompensation in it that makes Lena nervous. “Don’t worry. I’m just—gonna go to bed, I guess. Night!”

They share a smile and Lena tucks herself into bed, missing the comfort of Kara from the night before, where they'd fallen asleep while watching a movie. Admittedly the position wasn’t all that comfortable; it was more just the presence of her. 

Lena shakes her head to herself and brings the covers up to her chin, rolled onto her side to watch Kara. 

The girl in question is on her phone, having just turned off her lamp and the blue screen is illuminating her face in the darkness. She’s typing quickly, her fingers almost a blur, or maybe that’s just Lena’s tiredness. There’s a crinkle at her eyebrow, and her lips are pursed a little, and it adds just the tiniest bit of unease to her stomach. 

She can trust Kara. She can. 

“Who are you texting?” Lena asks.

Kara looks up, alarmed, like she’d forgotten Lena was even there. “Oh! Uh. My cousin, Clark.”

“Oh, him. I thought you two weren’t very close.”

Kara reaches up to adjust her glasses; a nervous tick. “We’re not. I just… have some questions, is all. About like, school.”

“Okay,” Lena says, deciding she’ll give Kara the benefit of the doubt. “Good night, then.”

“Night.”

Lena’s just about to roll over to face the wall when her phone pings, and she snakes a hand out from the warmth of her duvet to recover it from her nightstand. 

It’s a notification from her iMessage app, and it says, _you have been removed by Veronica from ‘the cult chat’._

Oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm . 
> 
> two things; there's a party next chapter, and i need a beta ! if anyone has a butt load of free time then pls step right up. nothing like , serious. its chill. low key. a casual beta / writer relationship. this sounds like a tinder profile. anyway, see you next time!


	11. dance partner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara receives another visit from Kal, gets drunk at a party, has a revelation about Mike and a conversation with Lena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again !! good length chapter . favourite length chapter . around 5k.  
> i guess a lot is revealed this chapter ? uh ? actually only 1 big thing i guess. never mind.  
> i got a beta and its great ! i can sit back n relax and she's @6ifyoucountthedog on tumblr dot com. thank u so much. 
> 
> enjoy !!!!

Kara’s just exiting her chemistry test when she sees Kal talking with Ms. Grant against the lockers in the hallway. He’s got his hands tucked into his pants, his glasses near the tip of his nose and a toothy grin. Kara pushes down the swell of anger.

“Is that your cousin?” asks Lucy, who’s appeared beside her suddenly, Lena just behind.

“Yes,” Kara grits her teeth, “I’ll be with you guys in a minute.”

She doesn’t wait for an answer before approaching the two; Ms. Grant is twirling a strand of hair with her fingers as she looks up at him. Ew.

“Clark!” 

Kal turns, his smile dipping but staying there nonetheless. On the contrary, Ms. Grant’s flirtatious expression is completely wiped off her face, and she levels Kara with one of annoyance. 

“Kara,” Kal extends an arm, supposedly to hug her but when she makes no move to approach he awkwardly swings his hand back around to his neck. “My cousin. Good to see you.”

Her heart may have warmed at his Hanukkah present, but it hasn’t fixed everything. Not now, not with his presence.

“What are you doing here?” She puts her hands on his hips, and she can see he itches to do the same.

“I just thought I’d visit you. Have a chat. Meet the charming Ms. Grant,” he shoots Ms. Grant a wink, which is received enthusiastically.

Kara suppresses a shudder. “Not in the hallway, maybe?”

“Sure. Let’s go outside.” 

They leave, Kara giving Ms. Grant a stilted, red faced goodbye, and Kal giving a rather suave one, and they sit outside on a bench that overlooks the gardens.

“Kal,” Kara begins, clenching her jaw, “what are you really doing here?” 

“Like I said. We need to have a chat.”

“There’s nothing to chat about." 

“Oh?” Kal turns to her, a steely look in his eye. “What about Lex’s invention? His increasing obsession with Superman? Your roommate, Lena Luthor, helping him?”

“It’s not like that!” Kara bites her tongue to avoid insulting him. “Rao, I explained to you she didn’t know. She didn’t even give him much.” 

“And you believe her?”

Kara summons a glare. “Of course I believe her.”

Kal huffs and looks away. 

The trees are bare and black and twisted from the winter, and the grass lacks the vibrancy she suspects it usually has. It all looks like ash. Hopefully, as the rain and the seemingly perpetual dark sky shift to spring, the leaves will come back. 

“You didn’t have to come all the way to Ireland just to discuss my roommate, yet again. You could have just called.”

“Calls are expensive. Flying? Not so much.” Kara hears the arrogance and amusement in his voice, and hates that he can switch between accusatory and fun in the blink of an eye.

“She has no ill will. I know it.”

Kal sighs, “How?”

“I’ve looked into her eyes, Kal. She’s good. She’s nothing like Lex.” 

“And have you looked into Lex’s eyes? I did, once. And I saw the same thing. God, Kara. Can’t you see?” 

“There’s nothing _to_ see!” Kara clenches her fist, pressing it down into the bench and splintering the wood. She places it onto her lap to avoid any more property damage, but her anger is still there, writhing under her skin. “If you would just, talk to her, Kal. You’d know. She’s so lovely, and she’s my friend.” Kal stares at her. “Yeah, we’re friends. And we’re going to be _best_ friends.” 

“That doesn’t change the fact that she’s—“

“She talks a lot about being vegan, she always does her homework on time, we recommend books to each other, we study together, we hang out together. She likes something called kale. I’m not sure if it’s edible, or what. She loves cats. She loves dogs. She loves chemistry, and quantum entanglement. I know her, Kal. She’s a Luthor, yes, but only by name.” 

Kal shakes his head. “You’re wrong.” 

“I’m not. Leave her alone, Kal. I gave you that information to save your life, not for you to blame Lena even more. I broke a promise for you. I broke Lena’s trust.”

Kara takes a deep breath, watching as Kal mulls over the words, jaw tight. “Do you think she could get more information?” 

“I…” Kara looks away, “it’s a possibility” 

“Ask.”

“No, asshat!” Kara’s eyes widen at Kal's audacity, “I’m not exploiting our friendship just because you can’t figure Lex out yourself. That’s just uncalled for.” 

“But—“

“And I told you, she doesn’t talk often with him. She doesn’t know a thing.” Kara stands, fuming, and storms her way back through the hallways, up the 5 flights of stairs and into Lucy’s room. She doesn’t think she could handle seeing Lena right now.

* * *

The guilt at telling Kal about Lena and Lex is eating away at her, so she concentrates even harder on picking out her outfit for Mon-el’s party tonight. She’s not looking forward to it all that much; the crowd, the music, the drunk people. She’s really not in the mood. 

And, what with her current irritability she doesn’t know how well she’ll be able to handle the overstimulation. Maybe she should reconsider.

“Karaaa?” Lucy calls. She’s standing in front of her wardrobe with a finger on her chin, browsing her clothing selection. “Earth to Kara.”

“I’m here,” Kara pulls a hand over her face and takes a deep breath. Get your head in the game, Kara! “I’m here. Have you chosen?”

“Not for me…” and something in Lucy’s voice suddenly makes her very nervous, “but for you.”

She pulls off the hanger a very, very, _very_ short black dress. Oh, Rao.

“Um, no thank you.” Kara puts her hands up as if it will increase the distance between her and the… she can hardly even call it a dress. It’s like a scarf. 

“Yes, thank you.” Lucy approaches her, a wicked grin on her face. “Please, Kara. You’ve not been in a good mood at all after your cousin visited, and I think you getting lots of positive attention at the party will brighten you right up.”

Kara bites her lip, gaze going from Lucy’s face to the dress, and back to her face again. “Are you sure my behind won’t be falling out of the dress?”

Lucy squints, “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“Lucy!”

“What? You’ve got a great ass.”

“Lucy!”

“Kidding,” a beat passes, “or am I?” Kara grabs a pillow, intending to hit Lucy over the head with it when the dress lands on her lap. “Put it on, Danvers! We’re going partying.”

* * *

It’s about 9 when they’re finally finished getting ready. Lucy had straightened Kara’s hair out so it was impossibly smooth to the touch, and she has a lot of eyeliner on. Like, a lot. There’d been multiple times wherein Kara had needed to itch her eye, and she’d accidentally smudged the makeup and received a scolding from Lucy. 

“Ready to pick up Lena?” Vasquez asks, lying in bed. They’d decided to forego the party and be a sensible student. 

Kara bites her lip, “I feel bad we didn’t get ready with her.” 

“We’d probably slow her down anyway, what with your constant make-up smudging.” Lucy says, hooking her arm in Kara’s and opening the door (partly because otherwise, Kara will fall over in these heels). 

“Still,” Kara frowns. “I don’t know if I want to see her.”

Lucy looks at her like she’s suddenly grown another head, “What? Why? Has she done something wrong?”

“No, no! Nothing like that. It’s just… um, my mood, earlier had something to do with Lena.” It’s clear Lucy doesn’t quite understand, so Kara instead just tugs her hand in the direction of Kara and Lena’s dorm room.

She knocks, and Lena answers, “Coming!”

Kara can hear her as she approaches the door, and nervously tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. It’s cool. It’s fine. Why is she nervous?

“Kara!” Lena is finally visible, and she’s smiling, and she’s looking up and down Kara’s body with her mouth parted a little. “Kara. You…”

“Lena?” Kara frowns, concerned that Lena doesn’t approve of the dress. It’s short, but upon trying it on Kara had decided it was pretty cute. 

Lena locks eyes with her, heart rate a little faster then usual and she can see Lucy grinning out of her peripheral vision. “You look good.”

Kara blushes, scrunches her nose up. “Thanks! Lucy picked it out. Let’s go.”

She takes the briefest of moments to inspect Lena’s outfit, and she looks… also good. Kara swallows, hooks her arms through Lena’s and Lucy’s and starts marching towards the stairwell, desperate not to trip over a warp in the flooring or something because she’s very suddenly distracted.

Lucy clears her throat, “Thirsty?”

“Parched,” says Lena.

“Very,” says Kara. “Will there be water?”

“Not sure about water. Beer, maybe,” Lucy laughs. “You two are funny.”

 Kara frowns, “How?” But before she can get an answer, a looming shadow appears at the stairs.

They all collectively take a step back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” demands the shadow, and Kara releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding. It’s Alex.

“Nothing!” Kara squeaks. While it’s not an axe murderer, it’s still Alex. Close enough that Kara doesn’t quite relax.

Alex takes a step forward into the light, arms crossed as her gaze flickers past their faces and down to their dresses. “Going out?” 

“No…” Kara says, wishing her friends would back her up somehow. 

“So, those are your pyjamas?” 

“…Yes.” 

“And you’re wearing makeup to bed?” 

“…Yes.”

“Kara,” Alex closes her eyes like she can’t deal with Kara’s stupidity. “Firstly, you shouldn’t wear makeup to bed. You’ll get spots—“

“I don’t get spots.” 

“—And secondly, _nobody_ intentionally wears makeup to bed. You guys are going to a party.” 

Kara’s eyes widen like a deer caught in headlights, and she bites her lip to stop herself from begging at Alex’s knees not to tell on her to Eliza or Jeremiah. “Um,” she says instead. 

“Um?” Alex raises an eyebrow, moves her crossed arms to her hips. She’s even more intimidating now.

“Um,” Kara confirms. 

“Wanna come with?” Lucy asks, stepping forward, oozing confidence Kara wishes she had. “It’ll be fun.” 

Alex pauses like she’s not quite sure what to do. “Uh,” she says, “uh.” 

“Come on!” says Lucy in that voice of hers, the one always persuading Kara to do things she would never do unless it was her that asked. “Alex.”

Alex moves her jaw from side to side. “Fine. I’m coming. _Only_ to watch you, Kara. You’re my responsibility; I have to protect you.” Alex starts making her way up the stairs to her room to presumably change out of her pyjamas. 

Kara avoids mentioning that she is far better equipped to protect Alex, and that Jeremiah  sent her here for her own safety, too. 

* * *

They escape over the wall towards the back of the school where they’d forgotten to fix the spikes, Kara vaulting over with ease and grimacing when she sees Lena and Lucy’s shock and Alex’s exasperation. 

Alex (wearing a shirt, jeans and a leather jacket) is the one to walk them into the party like a bodyguard, one hand separating Kara and her as if to say, stay back. It seems a little more mellow than last time, Kara notes thankfully, stepping through the open door. She’d rather not have to tune out everything but the heartbeat and voice of the person talking to her.

Within a minute, Mon-el appears. He’s swaying on the spot and his breath smells, and he shouts, “You’re here!” 

Kara smiles awkwardly, “Yeah, I am. Hi.” 

She looks behind her and sees Lena, suddenly irritated, walk away to join Lucy who’s made her way over to James and Winn. Alex is with them too, shooting occasional looks her way, talking to a guy with brown hair who’s leaning in too close to her.

Kara frowns. She’s not really in the mood to be alone with Mon-el right now. 

“Kara!” He shouts, right in her ear, causing her to flinch. “What’s up with you?” 

“Uh,” she begins, “I’m not sure. I’m just, not really in the mood for a party.” 

“You should drink!”

“I really shouldn’t.”

“What’s the harm? It’ll be fun! You can let loose, dance! Come on!”

Kara purses her lips, eyeing Mon-el’s inebriated state and how carefree he’s looking. She would really like to forget Kal’s visit…

“Fine.”

Mon-el hoots and he clumsily passes his Solo cup to her, saying “It’s tasty! Take a swig!”

And so, she does, and for the first time her throat burns as the alcohol makes its way down. She grimaces, receives an encouraging glance from Mon-el and downs the rest of it.

It feels good. The pain.

She passes the empty cup back to him, her head feeling suddenly impossibly warm, her throat still tingling.

“Good?”

“Yeah!” Kara shouts back, letting Mon-el take her to the kitchen where there’s presumably more. “It’s warm!”

Mon-el laughs, “Yeah! It makes it feel like,” he squints. “Like, my chest is being hugged. From the inside. By the sun.”

Kara nods sagely, “You’re so right.”

They get to the kitchen and in the far corner he’s hidden a bottle inside a house plant, half buried in the soil. “Here!” He passes it to her as he unscrews the lid. “Take a sip! It’s stronger ‘cause I haven’t diluted it with the fruit punch.”

A far away part of Kara tells her it’s not a very good idea because if she’s tipsy off half a cup of diluted alien alcohol, she can only guess what’s going to happen next.

She takes the bottle and takes two gulps, throat on fire, and grins. She’s awfully giddy and her heels are starting to not be a great idea. “It’s…” she tries to find the right words, “sand.” 

“Sand?” Mon-el frowns.

“Rough.” 

“Ah,” he nods, “the throat.”

Kara lights up, “Yes! You get me!”

“We’re on the same telephone wire.” 

“No, wavelength.”

 “Wavelength?” 

“Yes,” Kara laughs, “not telephone wire.” 

“But—“ 

“Shh! Just, accept it. Humans are weird.” She grabs his wrist, takes the bottle from his mouth, takes a final swig and stuffs the bottle back into the soil. “Let’s dance!”

* * *

Kara is… drunk. Decidedly so. 

For the first time she considers maybe she does need glasses because she can’t see quite right. It’s blurry, and she keeps wiping at her glasses with her fingers, blurring them even more. She’s not sure who she dances with; at first it’s Mon-el, she can smell him. It might be Lucy next, and they dance for a while, and she starts to feel a little queasy but it’s fine! It’s fine. She won’t be sick.

She focuses hard on closing her mouth, just in case her stomach does decide to throw up the alcohol as she dances with Lucy. Lucy’s great.

“Are you okay?” Lucy says, leaning into her ear, voice squeaky, “you look a little out of it!”

“I’m fine!” Kara shouts back, smiling, taking Lucy’s hands and doing an odd jig. “I’m drunk!”

Lucy laughs, “Just a little.”

Kara giggles, and finally spots Lena from across the room. She’s looking at her.

“Lena!” She blurts. She hasn’t seen her friend since Mon-el gave her the alien alcohol, and, how long ago was that? 5 minutes? An hour? 6 hours? She can’t tell. 

Lucy rolls her eyes good-naturedly, “Go dance with her, you sap.”

Kara doesn’t take much time to consider the word sap, (sap? Tree sap? Sticky, insects eat it, good for making fires, she’s not sap!) before rushing off towards Lena and tripping over about 3 people’s feet on the way. 

“Lena!” she says again, and suddenly Lena’s looking like she doesn’t quite want to be there, red faced, eyes looking away, lip bitten. “Lena,” Kara coos once she’s within arms reach, “dance with me?”

“I’m not much of a dancer.”

“I’m sure you’re amazing. You’re amazing at everything. You know that, right?” 

Instead of giving her an answer, Lena stares at her. “Are you drunk?” 

“Pfft,” Kara waves a hand dismissively, “no.”

“Yes, you are.” 

“I’m not drunk!”

 “But,” Lena’s nose scrunches as she thinks, and Kara thinks about that scene in that movie Inside Out that says _do you ever look at someone and wonder, what is going on inside their head?_

A minute, or maybe an hour passes until Lena talks. “Last time, you weren’t drunk. And you drank like 20 shots.” 

Kara blushes, “Maybe.” 

“You’re so confusing, Kara,” Lena shakes her head at her wistfully like she’s trying to pick her brain apart, and Kara knows she’s drunk. “But that’s fine, because you’re nice.”

Kara ducks her head, “You’re making me blush!”  She blurts and grabs both of Lena’s hands, starting to walk backwards into the dancing. “Let’s dance!”

Lena looks lovely when she’s dancing. Lovely, Kara finds, is the word she most often uses to describe her. Lovely Lena. Lovely Lena, with long hair that tangles easily and whips around as she dances. Lovely Lena, whose nose scrunches when she’s amused or concentrating on a particularly hard equation. 

She’s _beautiful_ , Kara realizes. _A terrible dancer, though._

It doesn’t matter! It’s fun! She’s laughing! Kara feels like her heart is expanding exponentially as she jumps up and down, barely in time with the beat, and she’s parched all of a sudden.

“Lena!” Kara shouts, and Lena opens her eyes. 

“Yes!” 

“I’m going to get a drink from the kitchen!” 

“An alcoholic drink?” 

“No! Water!” 

“Okay!” 

Kara hugs Lena for the briefest of moments and then heads off in search of a sink, or a bottle of a clear liquid.

She unscrews a cap of a bottle and takes a sip, only to grimace upon the realisation that it’s vodka. Ew. 

She half-haphazardly screws the lid back on and finds a bottle of water in the fridge a little while later. It’s cold! Refreshing! Calm.

Sighing, she rests her head against the door of the fridge, which is also cold. Mm. She loves cold things, now. She takes another sip of her water when Mon-el comes in, stumbling. 

“Mon-el,” Kara says, a little disappointed. She’d rather have Lena. “Hi.”

“Karaa,” he almost trips over a wet spot on the tiles, “my tummy hurts.”

 _Oh._ This means he’s probably going to be sick, then, Kara remembers. “We should go to the bathroom.”

Mon-el mumbles something incoherent but Kara takes that as affirmative, tugging his arm towards the stairs. She catches Lena’s eye on the way, gives her an apologetic smile and keeps climbing. She’ll dance with her later! She just needs to make sure Mon-el isn’t sick all over his own furniture. 

Someone stumbles out of the bathroom door with a line of icky vomit on the side of his mouth, so she holds her breath as she enters. This is fine. She’ll just. Not breathe for 5 minutes. 

Mon-el falls to his knees and puts his head on the rim of the toilet seat, where people, with their butts, their naked butts, have sat. Kara holds a grimace as she lowers herself onto the edge of the bathtub, still desperately holding her breath. _How long can I hold my breath for_ , she wonders, having never tried. 

Mon-el groans and finally throws up, and it’s gross. She wrinkles her nose but continues to rub his back anyway, thankful there’s no hair to push out of his face. If she just sits here… away from the sick… then she won’t feel the need to throw up either. 

Finally, after some dry heaves, Mon-el wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand and sits back, his head against the wall. 

He makes a face. “Gross.” 

Kara nods, still holding her breath, still not passing out. Maybe it’s a kryptonian thing.

“Fuck,” he rubs his face with his palm, “I shouldn’t be vomiting. I’m _used_ to this stuff. I party all the time—like, on my planet,” he slurs.

Kara takes an experimental inhale, only half-listening to Mon-el. The air doesn’t smell _too_ bad.

“I’m a prince, for Rao’s sake,” he moans. Kara blinks, and stares at him. Rao? “I partied every day, every night, every second, you name it. I partied before I was even born. I partied in the _womb_.”

Kara frowns. She must have not heard right. He didn’t say Rao, did he? He didn’t. She nods her head to reassure herself, because otherwise that means either Mon-el is a Kryptonian, or like, a Daxamite. And she doesn’t really want to deal with that right now. 

“Oh?” Kara prompts him to continue. 

“Yeah! I’m cool, and I party. I’m strong, and I’m smart. You should be my mate.”

Kara freezes. “Um.” 

“Whaddaya say, Kara? Do you want to become mates? Or, I guess on this planet they marry. I don’t know what it is, exactly, but—” 

“No, thank you.” Kara swallows, discomfort bubbling in her stomach. Or maybe that’s just her body rejecting the alcohol. “Um… to be honest, Mon-el, I kind of see you as more of brother.”

He blinks slow at her, eyes unfocused but like he’s trying really hard to understand her words. “What?”

“I don’t want to be your mate. You’re like a brother to me.”

Mon-el looks at the floor. “But I like you.”

Kara bites her lip, “I like you too, but um, as I said, like a brother.” 

He stares at her, his heart rate quickening ever so slightly. “So, you’re rejecting me. You don’t like me. You don’t—“ 

“I do, but—" 

—You don’t care about me at all, do you, Kara?” He stands suddenly, swaying on the spot. Clearly the alcohol isn’t quite out of his system.

“I do care, Mon-el—“

“What the fuck!” He swings his arms around like a wailing baby, “but. I’m _me_. I’m Mon-el, the Prince of Daxam. You can’t reject _me_!”

Mon-el storms out of the room before Kara even has the chance to say anything, too dumbstruck.

He’s… the prince of Daxam. A Daxamite. 

Oh Rao.

She rubs her face, mouth parted. Prince of Daxam. What the… what the heck. He’s a Daxamite? Without warning, a rush of anger hits her. He’s the Prince of Daxam! He’s the prince of a Slaver world. Son of the King of the Slavers. Gross. Disgusting.

She stands and a shudder goes down her spine. Repulsive.

Her mother told her stories of the Daxamites. They didn’t elect their ruler, they partied all the time, they were arrogant, stuck up, and most importantly, slave owners.

She’s been friends with Mon-el for a month and she hadn’t suspected a thing, but it kind of makes sense, now. He has all the facets of a stereotypical Daxamite.

Sliding down the wall to sit where Mon-el had sat a few moments ago, she stares across the room. She doesn’t quite know what to do.

Kara’s angry! She wants to chase after him and give him a stern talking to, maybe poke him, maybe punch him, and she’s about to when suddenly her blinks begin to slow, her mouth parts, and she falls asleep.

* * *

Kara’s not sure when she wakes up.

She licks her lips, mouth dry, and lowers the volume a little because the party is still in full swing.

A glance at her watch tells her it’s 1am, so she’s been napping for roughly an hour and her feeling of queasiness has passed. It’s all good. She’s fine. She closes her eyes again, intending to get a few more minutes of sleep when someone stumbles in and says, “Oh.” 

Kara opens her eyes, and it’s Lena.

“Lena,” Kara involuntarily smiles. “It’s you.”

Lena smiles too, softly. “Kara. I wondered where you were. I wanted to dance.”

“Oh, sorry. I had to bring Mon. I mean, Mike, to the bathroom. He felt sick.” Kara frowns. “Hm. Mike. He’s not a nice person.” 

Lena slides down next to her, knocking their shoulders together. “Did he do something?”

“No, no,” Kara reassures. “I just had a revelation of sorts. He’s a douche, and I hate him.”

“Woah, plot twist,” Lena remarks.

"Yeah. I’m sad, because I thought we had a connection. I mean, we still do, but it feels tainted. Like when a dog pees on a certain area of grass every day and the grass dies and becomes yellow.” 

Lena hums. 

“I’m so dumb,” she pouts, rubbing one eye. “I should have seen it coming.”

“Awww, Kara!” Lena tugs at the hand that’s rubbing her eye. “You couldn't have. Mike, he seems nice at first but he’s really not. You just have to wait for him to slip up and say something mean.” 

“Yeah.” Kara looks down. They’re holding hands.

“Yeah,” Lena agrees, also looking down.

A while passes, of both of them staring down at their laps, not sure whether to pull away, or keep their hand there. Kara subconsciously starts drawing circles on her palm.

“So,” Kara begins. “Why are you up here?”

Lena takes a moment to respond. “I needed to get away from Veronica.”

Immediately, Kara grimaces. “Veronica. I don’t like her.” 

“Mm. For good reason. I was kicked out of the group chat yesterday, and I was sad.”

Kara gasps, clutches her heart. “That’s so mean! You should have told me, Lena. I would have given you a hug.”

Lena gives a timid smile, “Really?”

“Of course.”

“I like your hugs.”

Kara blushes. “Thank you.”

“So, anyway. Me and Veronica, Veronica and I, we. We were friends, but like, more.”

“Best friends?”

“Um. Not really.” Kara hears her heart rate pick up. “We kind of, kissed a lot.”

“Oh.” Kara blinks. “But you’re both girls.”

“Yes.”

“I forgot.”

“That we’re both girls?”

“No, that people can be gay here.”

Lena’s hand slackens in Kara’s. “Yes, we can.”

“Hm.” 

It was odd, coming from Krypton to Earth. A planet so technologically advanced but not at all in tune with feelings, or love.

“How did you forget?” Lena asks.

Kara purses her lips, “It’s just, um, in Ukraine. Gays didn’t really exist.”

Lena squints, “I’m sure they did.”

“Right, but. No one, um, talked about it.” 

“So,” and Lena pauses, looks at the wall across from her. “Are you a homophobe?”

“I’m not afraid of homes.”

“No, do you hate gay people.”

“No, of course not,” Kara says adamantly. “I forgot about them is all.”

Lena still doesn’t look like she understands how someone could just… forget, but she seems to accept it nonetheless.

There’s a weird heavy weight in the room now, and Kara starts drawing patterns on Lena’s skin again in an effort to return to the calm atmosphere from before. Lena likes girls! It’s fine. It’s cool. Girls are pretty. And nice. It’s totally understandable.

Kara nods to herself, and Lena looks at her.

“You have soft skin,” Kara says, as her thumb traces over the planes of Lena’s hand.

“Thanks.”

“Soft hair, too.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re really pretty, Lena.”

Kara feels Lena’s body temperature spike. “Thanks. You too. You look like the sun sometimes.”

“Oh. Thanks. I’m not very hot, though.”

“No,” Lena shakes her head, “you’re super hot.”

“No, my skin temperature is about 103 degrees fahrenheit.”

“Oh, that’s hot.”

“Not as hot as the sun.”

“I know but earlier I meant,” Lena pauses, “never mind.” She clears her throat. 

Kara leans away, a little alarmed. “Do you have a cold?”

“No, I just. Itchy throat.”

“Oh, right.”

They both startle when a crash resounds downstairs, and they look up. It sounded like somebody fell onto a table.

If Kara tunes in, she can hear shouting. More specifically, Alex shouting.

Another crash is heard, and this time it sounds like broken glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a cliffhanger ? in my fic ? more likely than you think . 
> 
> don't worry lena and veronica's chat that's briefly mentioned will be included in the next chapter !! very excited . there will probably be some shouting, who knows, the sky is the limit. see you next time!


	12. pro wrestler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena goes to a party, chats with Veronica, there's some blood at one point and also crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all.......... i know. i. know. a month w/ out an update??? super sorry. its pretty short and i think its in a diff. tone of voice than the last chapter but here it is! 
> 
> in case you forgot what happened last time: previously, in chapter 11, kara and her friends go to a party, get smashed and kara finds out who mon-el really is, lena and kara have a deep chat about the existence of gay people and theres a cliffhanger with alex and shouting and broken glass. 
> 
> enjoy!

Lena, as soon as she sees Mike approach with his half-lidded eyes and a cup held loosely in his fingertips, decides she doesn't really want to be here anymore. She crosses her arms and stalks off in search of something that will hopefully better her mood. 

Aha! It hits her: a drink. 

Someone stumbles past her, cup in hand, and Lena swipes it from his grasp and downs it, knowing that a guy in that state will have forgotten he even had a drink to begin with. 

That’s better, Lena sighs, and spots Lucy talking with two boys, and Alex and Maxwell Lord, bickering. Ugh. She curls her lip at him and makes her way over to Lucy, trying to assimilate herself into the conversation with a, “enjoying the party?” but no-one responds. Lucy and James are in an in-depth conversation about guacamole and Winn is rocking on his heels, looking awkward. Great. 

“Winn, is it?” Lena says, just as Lucy says, “ _What? Never?_ ”

“Uh,” Winn responds, voice high and tight. The whites of his eyes are showing, and his neck is strained a little. He’s afraid of her, Lena realises with a soft laugh. How humorous. 

James suddenly gasps, hand pressed to his chest with an easy smile on his lips, and Lena decides she’s not sticking around here, either. She nods her farewell to Winn and doesn't bother trying with the soon-to-be couple, and takes refuge in a dark corner of the living room, hair blending seamlessly with the shadows. 

There’s a half-empty cup on the armrest of a sofa and with a cautionary whiff, Lena takes a sip. Not great, but certainly strong. 

The room flashes red and blue and green and Lena finds herself getting a little dizzy at the colour changes, all the while watching as Kara switches from dancing with Mike (bleugh), and then Lucy, and doesn't realise Kara is walking towards her until she's only about 15 feet away. Kara looks stunning, of course; a glint in her eye, dress tight and black, glasses on the bridge of her nose. 

Lena sets her drink down and bites her lip in an effort to calm her racing heart, aware that she must be a little rosy cheeked. 

Kara somehow manages to persuade Lena to dance, despite the revelation that Kara is well and truly drunk off of something Lena’s not familiar with. It smells like honey and smoke.

They dance, and it’s hilariously embarrassing in that Kara can’t dance and neither can Lena, at least at parties like this where there’s no string quartet or marble floor or flutes of champagne and Lena struggles to let go at first, but she gets there. She’s out of breath by the time Kara says she needs a drink of water. 

Lena’s not sure how much time passes of her standing in the middle of a dancing crowd, praying that no-one will step on her toes, patiently waiting for Kara’s return until she sees her walking up the stairs with Mike again. Kara shoots her a sad smile. 

Whatever. Lena rubs at her cheek and takes someone’s drink, downing it in one swig. She’s probably just. Making sure Mike is okay. It’s fine. 

Lena’s about to rest her feet at a sofa when someone roughly grabs her arm, knocking the empty cup right out of her hand. Distractedly, she looks over her shoulder and watches it roll around on the floor and get trampled on by an unaware dancer until her line of sight is obscured by a door frame. 

Her kidnapper has dragged her into a lesser populated room, and is in the process of kicking everyone else out and closing the door behind them. 

It’s Veronica. 

Veronica turns around and faces Lena, and Lena’s shocked by her appearance. Normally so well put together at parties, this Veronica has wet mascara streaks and pointy hair and one of her heels has snapped off, so she limps whenever she moves about making her infinitely less intimidating. Her cast-bound hand hangs limply by her side, a stark contrast to her tight red dress and what Lena had once known her to look like. 

In conclusion, Veronica is a mess. Lena can’t stop staring at her. 

“What?” Veronica says, a bite to her tone. 

Lena keeps staring. It’s mystifying, seeing Veronica off her pedestal. She could almost laugh. 

“Stop staring at me!”

Lena blinks dumbly, feeling a hiccup bubbling in her chest. She swallows it down and keeps looking. 

Veronica begins to breath a little faster, brow creasing to form an angry line. “Lena.”

Oh, God. She feels a little dizzy. 

“Lena!” Lena refocuses on Veronica. “God,” Veronica’s nostrils flare and it looks funny, “I can’t deal with you. I can’t,” and then, suddenly, she’s crying. 

Veronica’s crying, as in, real life tears are leaving her eyeballs and running down her cheeks and falling off her chin and leaving maroon stains on her dress; the strangest thing. 

Lena wonders how Mike and Kara are doing. 

“Lena I just—“ and Veronica rubs at her cheek with her non-broken hand. Every time she talks, it’s like the spit in her mouth is too thick and she can’t articulate any of her words properly. “Hey! Are you even listening?”

“No,” Lena supplies. 

“Well fuck you.”

“Well fuck you too, Veronica. What do you want?”

Lena feels herself getting pissed and Veronica seems like she’s already there, ready and raring to punch someone, or something. They stare at each other until Lena’s eyes burn and she blinks, and Veronica dips to look at her lips. 

Lena purses her lips subconsciously, cautiously watching as Veronica takes a step toward her, arms length away. 

Slowly, slowly, Veronica brings her hands up to frame Lena’s face, cast bumping into Lena’s ear, breath heavy. 

“Stop it,” Lena says, and pushes Veronica away. She takes a few steps back, head beginning to hurt. “I don’t understand, Veronica. I thought you—“ Lena frowns, “I thought you hated me.”

“I do,” is the adamant response. 

“Then—, what were you doing?”

“I don’t know.”

A long pause. Veronica refuses to meet her eye, like she’s psyching herself up to say something. 

And then, Veronica breaks the silence. “I miss you.”

Immediately, Lena scoffs. “I don’t miss you. You treated me like dirt.”

Veronica blinks, like she’s confused that Lena hasn’t fallen on her knees and asked her to marry her at her admission. “Yes, but. You know I cared about you.”

“Did you?”

Veronica pauses before answering. “I don’t know.”

“Of course you don’t know,” and Lena brings her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. The headache is getting stronger, now. “Why did you kick me out, Veronica? Why do you hate Kara, of all people?”

Veronica doesn’t answer. 

“Kara is probably the nicest person on this earth. The universe, even. I just—I don’t get it. Veronica? Are you listening? Why do you hate Kara—?”

“I like you.”

It knocks the wind right of of her. 

“I like you a lot. All this _fucking_ time, I was jealous. Of what you and Kara had.”

“Kara and I don’t _have_ anything—“

“You don’t see it? The way you look at each other? I wanted that. For us,” and Veronica looks on the edge of tears again. 

Lena can’t quite wrap her head around it, but a part of her wants to crush Veronica’s lips with her own; melt into the familiarity of her skin and her warmth but another, smarter part of her remembers that Veronica drove her out of the group because she was feeling angry, and jealous. She lacked the emotional maturity to confront her and actually _talk_ about it, drove all her fury into bullying Kara and ultimately turned her other friends against her. She tried to hit Kara, as well. No excuse can make up for any of her behaviour

Veronica is rich and pretty and a Sinclair, but she’s also a terrible person. She looks dumb with her cast and she’s always mean. Lena is a Luthor, and she’s rich and pretty too and she’s becoming a better person, she knows she is. She’s _going_ to be worthy of Kara’s friendship. 

She is so much better than Veronica, she realises, finally. 

“You don’t deserve me,” Lena says.

Veronica’s gaze falls to the floor. “I know.”

Lena tilts her head up as a final goodbye and walks out of the room, head spinning, dress too tight on her body. She passes Mike and Alex who are talking heatedly, but she can’t hear them and she doesn’t really care what they’re saying anyway. She needs to find someplace to cool down.

* * *

“Oh,” Lena says when she walks in on Kara, just waking up from a nap. 

“Lena,” A soft smile graces Kara’s lips, and Lena feels herself relax a little too. “It’s you.”

“Kara, I wondered where you were.” 

And, the conversation continues after that; Kara had realised that Mike wasn’t all that great, and—Kara forgot gay people existed and Lena’s compliment is misinterpreted and they reach an awkward standpoint where they stare at their joined hands until, suddenly, a crash is heard, some shouting, and then glass, breaking. 

Immediately, Kara is on her feet pulling Lena up by the hand as well. Lena’s jaw hangs loose as she’s dragged down the stairs, worry twisting in her gut. It was a crash, and more often than not, crashes are bad. 

Lena bumps right into Kara’s back because they stop once they reach the living room, and she blinks to refocus on her surroundings. 

Alex is on the floor, and Mike is desperately trying to attach a table leg to a table. Someone is crying. 

Kara detaches her hand from Lena’s and rushes to Alex’s side, checking she’s alright. Lena is still confused; what happened to the table? Who’s crying? Is Alex hurt? Is this all Mike’s fault?”

In a flash, Kara is standing at her full height and begins to shout at Mike, hands balled into fists at her sides like she’s trying to restrain herself, face red. “Mike—what the _hell_ were you thinking?”

Mike stands at hearing his name, a table leg still clutched tightly and his face contorts when he sees who it is. “Kara, she punched _me_! What did you expe—“

There’s a moment, and Lena swears time slows for the briefest of seconds, morphing what could be missed in a blink of an eye into a montage of the various flickers of emotion that appear in Kara’s expression; the twitch of her lip, a crease in her brow, the shadow over her eyes. For that second, Lena feels like she can’t breathe. 

Kara’s hands _thwack_ into Mike’s chest and he gets sent flying backwards into the crowd, so fast Lena doesn’t even see him get from point A to point B. 

What the fuck. What. What? Kara? Lena blinks, her mouth, for whatever reason, unable to translate her thoughts into words. _Oh my God._

She just launched Mike two feet into the air with her hands. 

Someone is still crying. 

Kara looks furious as she watches Mike wobble himself to a standing position, clearly shaken and in no position to fight back, so Lena’s pretty sure Kara’s got this. 

Alex is trying to push herself up, face a deep red hue and lines marring her brow like she’s ready for a round two with Mike and Lena would be all for it if not for what appears to be a broken hand and a shard of glass, stuck in her arm. There’s a lot of blood. 

“Oh my God,” Lena breathes, hands hovering over the wound, “Alex, you’re bleeding.”

“Good eye.”

“You’re bleeding a lot.”

“You’re fucking Sherlock Holmes, Luthor.”

“This is bad.”

Alex bites her lip, probably to stop herself from whacking Lena over the head. 

She has no idea what to do; all her thoughts are racing around her head and she can’t catch onto a single one. 

Alex is hurt. Alex is bleeding. Bleeding is bad. She should therefore _stop_ the bleeding—

“Alex, we should go,” Kara says, suddenly nearby. Apparently she’s done with Mike. “Oh, gosh. This is really bad. I need to get you to the hospital.”

“It doesn’t even _hurt_ , Kara—“

In one fell swoop, Kara takes Alex by the armpits and hefts her over her shoulder, carrying her right out the door. 

* * *

Lena doesn’t remember much after that, except Lucy guides her back to her dorm, and one of them is crying, maybe her. Lucy looks utterly distraught and her hands are shaking a little but she takes Lena all the way to her door anyway. 

Lena pauses, her hand on the door handle. Her fingers are stained with blood. 

“Do you know what happened?”

Lucy looks at her, tired. “I don’t know anything. Maybe she’ll text.”

Text, right. With her phone. 

“Good night, Lucy,” and Lena’s about the push her door open when she’s suddenly pulled into a hug. 

Lena brings her arms around Lucy’s back to tighten it.

“I hope Alex is okay,” Lucy murmurs, and it’s the strangest thing, seeing Lucy Lane like this. She thought she was infallible. 

“Me too. She will be, if Kara’s with her.”

Lucy pulls away. “Yeah—um. Sorry, I’m just worried. Alex looked really bad. There was blood everywhere and,” she sucks in a breath, and lets it out, shakily. “God, did you see Kara? She fucking… almost launched Mike into another astral plane. It was terrifying.”

Lena recalls the look in Kara’s eye. “It was. Night, Lucy.”

“Yeah. Night, Lena.”

As soon as Lena’s in her room with the door closed behind her, she strips and changes into Kara’s sushi pyjamas on autopilot, as well as removing her contacts and taking her phone out of her purse. 

She tucks herself into bed and shoots a quick, _Kara, are you and Alex okay?_ to Kara before letting her heavy head fall onto her pillow, phone resting in her palm. 

Kara will text. She will. 

And with that thought, Lena falls asleep. 

* * *

Kara’s not there when Lena wakes up, head pounding, vision blurred. 

She goes about her day trying not to dwell on Kara’s absence, drops by town, picks up some sweets for when Kara returns, browses the bookstore, finishes the last few paragraphs of an essay, etc etc. 

Although, all throughout her daily activities, her mundane, menial tasks, Lena understands that it’s merely a distraction from the potent worry for Kara’s wellbeing, bubbling below the surface. 

Nevertheless, she falls asleep (this time in her own pyjamas) in much the same manner as the night before. 

* * *

 

It’s Sunday night, a day later when Kara finally comes back. 

The yellow light from the hallway bleeds into the dark room, and Lena squints. Kara doesn’t have her glasses on, instead clutched loosely in her hands, and her hair is windswept and frizzy. 

“Kara,” Lena says, pulling her covers back a little to sit up. “Are you okay?”

Kara gives an unconvincing smile, “of course. Um,” and takes a few steps further into the room. The door falls closed behind her, and the grainy blackness returns. 

“I got you some sweets.”

“I’m not all that hungry, sorry. I’d just like to sleep.”

“That’s okay.” Lena sets the package on her nightstand. 

Kara moves towards her bed, almost like she’s floating, and buries herself under the covers without even changing out of her clothes; the same dress she’d been wearing on the night of the party. She can’t quite see in the dark, but there’s probably blood stains on it. 

“Night, Lena,” comes a quiet voice.

“Night, Kara. Is Alex okay?”

“She will be.”

“Okay. Sleep well.”

“I’ll try.”

Lena tucks herself back in, and rolls over to watch Kara’s shape move up and down with each breath. Before she knows it, Lena has fallen asleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so, reasons why i didn't update:
> 
> 1\. i started school n therefore im busier than when i was on holiday  
> 2\. lacked inspiration/motivation  
> 3\. also just felt like id lost the writing pizazz and also my interest in supercorp?
> 
> its back now though! but no clue when i'll be updating. let's say, for now, i'll aim for once a week but since that's not likely, probably every other sunday??? who knows! lets just go with the flow. papaya seeds taste disgusting i ate one today. see you next time! (whenever that is lol!!!)


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